Faith on the Frontlines

Nicole Pace of Holly Springs (MS) has been a registered nurse for 11 years, but says “Nothing can compare to what we’re going through now. I think about changing my profession every day.”

“Deaths from COVID-19 can be so random,” said Pace, who works at Alliance Healthcare Systems in Holly Springs, MS. “We’ve seen people come in with a small cough or runny nose, who are otherwise healthy, that don’t recover like they should. We can do everything we are supposed to do but still have a negative outcome at times.”

She has felt like one of the many living casualties of the pandemic – frontline medical workers who, at the height of the COVID-19 outbreak, are watching people die every day.

“The pandemic has also brought about deaths that are not directly related to COVID-19. When a patient has a critical need for care outside of what our facility can provide, our job is to stabilize and transfer them,” Pace explains. “But when other hospitals have no available beds because of being overwhelmed with COVID patients, it may result in a critical patient waiting for days to be transferred. It is so frustrating and stressful.”

With variants straining short-staffed facilities across the country, some front-line workers are experiencing added physical, mental, and emotional stress.

Clara Chapman of Newton (MS) has worked in the medical field for 25 years. As a hospital admissions supervisor, she has seen daily patient admissions more than double during the pandemic. Covering shifts for employees out sick with the virus has required sacrifice and flexibility. “I had to switch to night shift this week,” Chapman lamented. “My sleeping patterns are all off, and my stress level is high.”

Dealing with the public is different for Chapman now too. “People’s attitudes have changed; they are scared and angry,” she says in a soft-spoken, kind voice. “Emotions are just flowing more than they used to be. You never know what you’re going to see. Sometimes I get cussed out for simply asking someone to put their mask on.”

“What healthcare workers are experiencing is akin to domestic combat,” Andrew J. Smith, Ph.D., director of the University of Utah Health Occupational Trauma Program at the Huntsman Mental Health Institute, said in a press release from his institution.

According to a study conducted by Smith’s group, more than half of the doctors, nurses and emergency responders providing COVID-19 care could be at risk for one or more mental health problems—including acute traumatic stress, depression, and anxiety.

Spiritual focus has helped Pace and Chapman, both of whom are Jehovah’s Witnesses, battle through the mental and emotional toll of the pandemic. “Prayer has played a huge role in enduring this. It helps me cope,” Pace says. She continues to combat exhaustion by relying on Bible study and staying in close contact with her family of faith through Zoom meetings.

Chapman combats the emotional strain of the pandemic by focusing on the emotional needs of others. After some of her ten-hour shifts, she enjoys spending evenings with her congregation over Zoom, writing letters with positive Bible messages to her neighbors. She explains, “The ministry is so calming because I get to share hope for the future with ones who are going through so much. It’s my medicine to be with my family of faith while giving hope to others.”

It’s been similar for Lindsey Gruzdis. The paramedic from Long Beach (MS) has struggled with the darkness of depression over the course of the pandemic.

“At times, my anxiety was the worst it has been in the 12 years I’ve worked on an ambulance. With the hospitals being overloaded, at times we would have to wait for hours with a patient before they could be admitted. By the time we would leave we’d have 10 new calls that came in, which led to me working double the hours. I lost so much weight, and I almost quit a couple of times,” admits Gruzdis.

Gruzdis senses that medical workers on the front lines are all in the same boat. Speaking of her co-workers she says, “We have bonded in our shared misery during this pandemic. Having meaningful bible discussions with them has strengthened my faith.”

One bible study aid that shows how to find relief from stress helped Gruzdis to climb out of the depression she had found herself in. “God has helped me find joy again,” she expresses with a smile.

American psychological and psychiatric associations, while not advocating or endorsing any specific religion, acknowledge a role for spirituality and religious faith in coping with distress and trauma.

Lawrence Onoda, Ph.D., a clinical psychologist in Mission Hills, California, noted a number of ways spirituality can help, including giving people “a positive hope and meaning toward life, comfort by looking for answers and strength from a higher power, and a collective shared experience of support and community.”

Chapman, mentioned earlier, points to her faith and help from her fellow Witnesses as the support she has needed during the last two years. “When I’m having anxiety on my way home from work, I’ll call one of my congregation ministers,” Chapman shares. “He always has the best scripture to help me.”

“I also appreciate being able to listen to articles from jw.org on the way to work. I’m not tech savvy,” she says with a laugh, “but I can say, ‘Hey Google, ask jw.org to read the daily text.’ It helps me a lot.”

Applying the practical suggestions found in an article about pandemic isolation has helped Chapman stay positive. “I appreciated the advice about cultivating friendships. It’s so easy to stay in a corner and wallow in your anxiety but being with my friends on Zoom is so encouraging. It helps me get through the week.”

(For more information on gaining comfort through the scriptures, please see https://www.jw.org/en/bible-teachings/peace-happiness/real-hope-future-bible-promises/)