CORONA It 'Went Downhill Extremely Fast': Nurse Dies 12 Hours After Testing Positive for COVID

day late

day late

money? whats that?

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It 'Went Downhill Extremely Fast': Nurse Dies 12 Hours After Testing Positive for COVID

Jenni Fink - Yesterday 11:12 AM

During a shift at work, a co-worker told Jeff Sales that he didn't "look great," so he got tested for COVID-19. Twelve hours after the positive diagnosis, he died at the hospital where he worked

Sales worked as a nurse at a Florida hospital throughout the pandemic and on Friday, another nurse working the same shift expressed concern about how he looked, according to a GoFundMe. Decades earlier, he had open-heart surgery while serving in Korea and hours after he tested positive for COVID-19, he went into heart failure, leaving behind a wife and four children.

"We were all talking to him that morning, and it just all went downhill extremely fast," Sales' son, Austin, told KUTV, noting that his dad tested positive at six in the morning and died at six that night.

The Sales' moved to Florida in 2020 and the 47-year-old worked at Blake Medical Center throughout the pandemic. Described as a nurse who was always willing to pick up the extra slack, Sales would work overnights and extra shifts because of the nursing shortage and uptick in patients, according to the GoFundMe.

"I remember one night, it was a crazy busy night shift, and we had a patient who needed to have surgery. She was terrified. She was tearful. It was so busy, and I know he had a million other things he needed to do, but I walked by and see him holding her hand and sitting at her bedside. I thought, that is exactly the kind of nurse I want to be," a former co-worker Ginger Welsh told KUTV.

The stress of the pandemic has taken its toll on health care workers and many have opted to leave the profession or experienced struggles with their mental health. The pandemic exacerbated shortages in the nursing profession, but Austin told KUTV that his dad was always smiling and optimistic even during the pandemic.

Newsweek reached out to RaeAnn Christensen, Sales' sister-in-law and the organizer of the GoFundMe, but did not receive a response in time for publication.

Christensen posted on GoFundMe that the sudden loss of Sales has been extremely difficult on his wife of 25 years and their whole family. Along with mounting medical bills and expenses for a funeral, Sales was the sole provider for the family, as his wife, Chanda, was a stay-at-home mother to their kids.

So far, the GoFundMe fundraiser has raised more than $22,000 of its goal of $25,000
 
day late

day late

money? whats that?
Tundra Gypsy said:
Sounds like he had a heart condition and pushed too hard to care for patients; didn't take care of himself. Very sad.
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The article doesn't say if he was vaxxed or not. But we do know if you are a health care worker and are not vaxxed, it's real hard to find a job these days. The fact that he had a previous heart condition could be the cause of death, but it is interesting to note that a lot of fully vaxxed people are dying from heart problems. I believe such information warrants a full autopsy.
 
M

moldy

Veteran Member
day late said:
The stress of the pandemic has taken its toll on health care workers and many have opted to leave the profession or experienced struggles with their mental health. The pandemic exacerbated shortages in the nursing profession
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This x 1000, and he was probably fully vaccinated. It breaks my heart for his family. Many many nurses are like this - they will sacrifice their own health to take care of patients, literally almost setting themselves on fire to keep others warm. But that breed of nurse is disappearing fast, replaced by ones that value money more. I don't know that that is a bad thing, but the general public is not accustomed to nurses saying, "NO!" very much.
 
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psychrn

Senior Member
"I remember one night, it was a crazy busy night shift, and we had a patient who needed to have surgery. She was terrified. She was tearful. It was so busy, and I know he had a million other things he needed to do, but I walked by and see him holding her hand and sitting at her bedside. I thought, that is exactly the kind of nurse I want to be," a former co-worker Ginger Welsh told KUTV.

LOL. Piss poor judgement. This is why nurses burn out...you learn this stuff in Nursing School, and in an ideal world it would be great, but you don't have time for these niceties in the real world. Back rubs with lotion? GTFO...I didn't have time to make an extra trip down the hall to even throw a bottle of lotion into the room.

One night at the Providence VA: CRAZY night, just me and two others for 50+ patients, and myself and one other nurse are running our asses off, and we're suddenly like "where the hell is Claire?"
I finally found her sitting in a room in the dark, holding someone's hand, and she says "Mr. X is going to die soon, and I thought it was really important to be with him."

I said "I don't think so. You have 51 other patients out here...get your ass back to work!"
 
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Doc1

Doc1

Has No Life - Lives on TB
psychrn said:
"I remember one night, it was a crazy busy night shift, and we had a patient who needed to have surgery. She was terrified. She was tearful. It was so busy, and I know he had a million other things he needed to do, but I walked by and see him holding her hand and sitting at her bedside. I thought, that is exactly the kind of nurse I want to be," a former co-worker Ginger Welsh told KUTV.

LOL. Piss poor judgement. This is why nurses burn out...you learn this stuff in Nursing School, and in an ideal world it would be great, but you don't have time for these niceties in the real world. Back rubs with lotion? GTFO...I didn't have time to make an extra trip down the hall to even throw a bottle of lotion into the room.

One night at the Providence VA: CRAZY night, just me and two others for 50+ patients, and myself and one other nurse are running our asses off, and we're suddenly like "where the hell is Claire?"
I finally found her sitting in a room in the dark, holding someone's hand, and she says "Mr. X is going to die soon, and I thought it was really important to be with him."

I said "I don't think so. You have 51 other patients out here...get your ass back to work!"
Click to expand...

I understand the need for nursing staff - who are usually overworked - to tend to their duties instead of attempting to minister (or comfort) to a dying soul, but it's a shame that there are not more spiritual services in hospital for just this sort of situation.

Look, I'll candidly admit that I know very little about hospital regulations (hate that word), but surely there are chaplains or volunteer laypersons who could fill this role. A lot of the elderly no longer have family or friends or more often just have no one who cares and are forgotten. I think their last step into eternity is probably more important than getting their next pill or the next check ticked off on their chart.

Personally, I'd hate to die in a cold, sterile hospital with no friends or family. I'd rather die in my own bed or perhaps under a nice tree... and yes, with my boots on.

Best
Doc
 
N

NCGirl

Veteran Member
psychrn said:
"I remember one night, it was a crazy busy night shift, and we had a patient who needed to have surgery. She was terrified. She was tearful. It was so busy, and I know he had a million other things he needed to do, but I walked by and see him holding her hand and sitting at her bedside. I thought, that is exactly the kind of nurse I want to be," a former co-worker Ginger Welsh told KUTV.

LOL. Piss poor judgement. This is why nurses burn out...you learn this stuff in Nursing School, and in an ideal world it would be great, but you don't have time for these niceties in the real world. Back rubs with lotion? GTFO...I didn't have time to make an extra trip down the hall to even throw a bottle of lotion into the room.

One night at the Providence VA: CRAZY night, just me and two others for 50+ patients, and myself and one other nurse are running our asses off, and we're suddenly like "where the hell is Claire?"
I finally found her sitting in a room holding someone's hand, and she says "Mr. X is going to die soon, and I thought it was really important to be with him."

I said "I don't think so. You have 51 other patients out here...get your ass back to work!"
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WoW that is so very sad. I hope Claire found a new career where caring is still a thing. Unfortunately it has almost completely disappeared from medical care in the USA.
 
P

psychrn

Senior Member
Doc1 said:
I understand the need for nursing staff - who are usually overworked - to tend to their duties instead of attempting to minister (or comfort) to a dying soul, but it's a shame that there are not more spiritual services in hospital for just this sort of situation.

Look, I'll candidly admit that I know very little about hospital regulations (hate that word), but surely there are chaplains or volunteer laypersons who could fill this role. A lot of the elderly no longer have family or friends or more often just have no one who cares and are forgotten. I think their last step into eternity is probably more important than getting their next pill or the next check ticked off on their chart.

Personally, I'd hate to die in a cold, sterile hospital with no friends or family. I'd rather die in my own bed or perhaps under a nice tree... and yes, with my boots on.

Best
Doc
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Totally agree, but you can't sit there half the shift waiting for it to happen. The rest of the patients on the floor got even less optimal care with one nurse MIA. We did our best, especially since this was the VA, and a lot of these guys had no one visiting them to begin with, but it wasn't always possible to sit with someone at the end. Everything is prioritizing and trying to manage your time and resources to get everyone cared for as much as you could.

Like I said, that's why Nursing is soul-sucking sometimes. You want to do the right thing, the right way, but you simply can't most of the time.
 
S

summerthyme

Administrator
_______________
bw said:
Yeah, I read that. Like I said, I wonder what his surgery was about.
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I'm thinking mitral valve replacement, but of course I have no clue.
But if that was the case, it could make him more susceptible to clots...

Summerthyme
 
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Scrapman

Scrapman

Veteran Member
Remember when politicians talked about doing something for essentially workers when this shit was hot and heavy.
 
Dobbin

Dobbin

Faithful Steed
Mark D said:
If I had a heart condition, I'd stay FAR away from the Clot Shot - way too many reports of heart issues associated with "The Jab" for my comfort.

What a shame.
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This would be Owner. As he says "Having survived one heart attack, I'm not looking for another one."

He did take Pfizer 1&2, but this was before the cardio-vascular issues became apparent - or rather "publicized." And even now, they're not really. What humans have learned they have learned "off MEEDIA."

And so far it seems Owner is among the fortunate. No issues from the shot.

But Owner is relatively "isolated." He's not one to shmooze. And he's in pretty good health.

As he says "My age deterioration is behind my actual age."

Thank Maker for the Internet.

Dobbin
 
J

Jeepcats27

Senior Member
You do know most ministers, rabbi's, priests of religious groups are part of a on call registers for hospitals. That doesn't mean they will show up if you call them. Even if the patients and family are part of their own congregation. I had to call the on call religious personal for the hospital and got some of the weirdest reasons for why they wouldn't show up. ( A one-year old's birthday?) On the other hand, sometimes when they heard the last name, they would suddenly be available in an hour???(Big church doner)
 
Mtsilverback

Mtsilverback

Veteran Member
Covids restrictive protocols can get in the way of outsider getting access to a facility. Even a family member may not be allowed in for their passing family member.

I have found that with staff that can keep their mouth shut and a handy back door can facilitate having a family member present to say good by.
 
db cooper

db cooper

Resident Secret Squirrel
day late said:
The article doesn't say if he was vaxxed or not.
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It's selective reporting. Bet he was vaxxed, saying so would go against the narrative.

An analogy to this type of journalism would be a reporter saying a white male robbed a store. In the next story if a black man did it, race would not be mentioned at all.
 
BUBBAHOTEPT

BUBBAHOTEPT

Veteran Member
psychrn said:
"I remember one night, it was a crazy busy night shift, and we had a patient who needed to have surgery. She was terrified. She was tearful. It was so busy, and I know he had a million other things he needed to do, but I walked by and see him holding her hand and sitting at her bedside. I thought, that is exactly the kind of nurse I want to be," a former co-worker Ginger Welsh told KUTV.

LOL. Piss poor judgement. This is why nurses burn out...you learn this stuff in Nursing School, and in an ideal world it would be great, but you don't have time for these niceties in the real world. Back rubs with lotion? GTFO...I didn't have time to make an extra trip down the hall to even throw a bottle of lotion into the room.

One night at the Providence VA: CRAZY night, just me and two others for 50+ patients, and myself and one other nurse are running our asses off, and we're suddenly like "where the hell is Claire?"
I finally found her sitting in a room in the dark, holding someone's hand, and she says "Mr. X is going to die soon, and I thought it was really important to be with him."

I said "I don't think so. You have 51 other patients out here...get your ass back to work!"
Click to expand...
Been there in my own small way. My ratio was 325 to 1, but they weren’t sick patients. I remember a Commander once in the 80s, when we watched the Shuttle go down in flames, he stated that shit happens, now gentleman let’s go fly the mission. Not pretty, but I get it…. :kaid:
I think I can spare a few dollars before they are more worthless in value….
 
P

psychrn

Senior Member
BUBBAHOTEPT said:
Been there in my own small way. My ratio was 325 to 1, but they weren’t sick patients. I remember a Commander once in the 80s, when we watched the Shuttle go down in flames, he stated that shit happens, now gentleman let’s go fly the mission. Not pretty, but I get it…. :kaid:
I think I can spare a few dollars before they are more worthless in value….
Click to expand...
?
 
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