Hi there! I am your nurse. I may not be your nurse today, but maybe I have been your nurse in the past or I will be someday. I’ve drawn your blood, I’ve delivered your medication, I’ve held your hand, your hair, your dying loved one.
I’ve offered you a lot of education. We’ve talked about drug use, blood pressure, diabetes, kidney failure, sex, death, chemo, rashes, bumps, lumps and itchy spots. I’ve shown you how to get rid of your baby’s diaper rash and ways to burp them to get the best results. I’ve checked on you around the clock and after I’ve left work, I’ve worried about you when I’m at home. One of the early and toughest lessons nurses learn is that we can only do so much. At some point, it is up to you, the body and soul we care for, to make the decisions for your life.
I’m asking you to please consider this additional bit of education.
There is a study out of the UK that has been released this month. This study looked at the brain makeup of people before and after a Covid diagnosis. What they found was, even in people who had mild Covid symptoms, “a consistent spatial pattern of loss of grey matter”. The areas of the brain that are seen to be impacted are the areas that deal with our taste, smell, memory, and emotion. Loss of brain tissue is so alarming. Our brains are our computers, they are how we exist-our brains are what make us human.
Covid is not just a respiratory illness. It affects our circulation-the blood that flows to our brain and our heart.
I know there are lots of reasons that you are not getting your vaccine. I know there is a lot of incorrect information circulating out there and a lot of fear tactics being used to keep you from receiving your Covid vaccine. I understand and agree that you have the right to decide what does or does not go into your body.
But please hear me on this. The vaccines are safe and effective. If they weren’t, I wouldn’t be giving them to you. If I did not trust their protection and believe completely that the benefits outweigh the risks, I would not be asking you to consider.
Covid is neither safe nor effective to our wellbeing and survival.
The Delta variant that is circulating now is more dangerous and more deadly. Every single adult death from Covid now, is considered preventable.
Get your vaccine, protect your brain, protect your life.
Trust your nurse.
Thank you for considering.
Elise Zink, BSN, RN – Grass Valley
Thank you for sharing your perspective. I see how many people struggle with knowing what to trust in our complicated world. “Who” do I trust? and why? is a great way to figure out our choices.