Faith on the Frontlines

When x-ray technician Courtney Reid begins her shift at MedCenter High Point, N.C. emergency room, the first thing she does is log on to a computer. With the click of a mouse, the screen reveals what she calls a “track board,” a listing of new patients she must attend to. Within the past 30 days she has seen an alarming trend – a dramatic surge in patients testing positive for COVID 19.

“Often, there are no hospital beds available, and the waiting room is packed,” she said, adding that more than half of those entering the facility are infected with the much meaner Delta variant of the virus.

The stress of being a frontline health worker during the pandemic can take its toll, she admits. The grim sounds of patients gasping for breath, and the knowledge that some of the patients admitted to the hospital will never leave alive – “It can get to you,” she said.

Reid, who has been an x-ray technician for more than 20 years, says that although her job is stressful and emotionally draining, her faith in God and the comfort from daily bible reading help her get through each shift.

“I pray constantly for strength to carry on and be strong for others,” said Reid, who attends Zoom meetings of the West Greensboro Spanish Congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses. “My congregation elders and others in the congregation are always there to support me with prayers and encouraging words.”

“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.

Austin Reis of Jamestown is a registered nurse in the emergency department of Sovah Health, a Martinsville, Va. Hospital. He, too, has seen the recent COVID surge, primarily among the unvaccinated, and its accompanying emotional stress.

“As a nurse, I have seen the occurrence of death go from monthly to daily,” said Reis, who is in the hospital’s “float pool” and can be assigned to different areas of the facility as needed. He says he is often in a hospital room with patients who take their last breath, and their bedside monitors register their last heartbeat.

“It’s hard not to become emotionally involved with them as individuals,” admits Reis. “They are sick and scared, and so are their family members. “You want to encourage them with a smile, but with the mask and face shield, they can’t even see that. You hope they see it in your eyes.”

“A month ago, I thought this was about over,” Reis said. There were no COVID patients in the ER or the whole hospital. Now there are four or five per shift, and it is ramping back up.”

Added to the stress of the job is the danger of his contracting the virus and spreading it to his family.

“I have a wife and a four-year-old son,” Reis said. “As soon as I get home, I remove all my hospital clothes and jump into the shower.

Reis has a one-hour commute each way to get to work. He is also one of Jehovah’s Witnesses, attending the West Friendly congregation in Greensboro, N.C., and says he fills the drive time listening to recordings of the bible and other worship programs.

“It’s like putting gas in my spiritual tank,” said Reis. “When I feel down and depressed, something always comes along to pick me back up. “I usually receive a shepherding call from one of the congregation elders, or a text or phone call from one of my fellow congregation members telling me to hang in there. I don’t know how I could continue on without them.”

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.”

(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/)