Carry With Us
The importance of health care professionals has been amplified by the Covid-19 pandemic. Nurses in particular are called on to provide more than ever for patients, often putting their own mental and physical health on the line. "Carry With Us" focuses on Ryan Thomas, a 23-year-old nurse who launched his career as a Surgical Trauma Intensive Care Unit nurse at UVA Medical Center in Charlottesville, Virginia in August 2020. The pandemic has shaped his interactions with patients in the hospital sphere, as well as in his EMT volunteer work at the Western Albemarle Rescue Squad in Crozet, Virginia. Working 12-hour shifts on minimal sleep, Thomas is slowly navigating high levels of stress and increased isolation. After a year, he continues to seek a sustaining balance that blends his work life with his friends, family, and love of nature.
“I don’t think they realize what we take home with us when we leave. I don’t think they realize the things that we carry with us because of us taking care of them.”
- Ryan Thomas
“I wanted to be a nurse. I wanted to be at the bedside. I wanted to be doing the busy work. I wanted my hands dirty.”
— Ryan Thomas
“I think the world has come to know that no matter who you are or what you've been through a nurse is always going to have your back at your worst time.”
-Ryan Thomas
“There’s quite a sacrifice that people are making to show up to work, more of a sacrifice than I think nurses have made in the past. Quite literally, you could get sick and die, or get your family sick just by showing up to work. There’s really something to be said for the things that nurses are never going to ask for, but that they really need.”
— Ryan Thomas
“I wish we could have talked to nurses who had burned out, so that we could understand what they had gone through because frankly, nobody can spend that much time in the setting I’m in. It’s that exhausting all the time. Everyday you show up and it’s traumatizing and it’s just normal.”
-Ryan Thomas
“I feel incredibly lucky and accomplished to be in such a role where at 23 years old, I’m showing up to this crazy job. All people, all walks of life, are looking to me to help them and I’m actually able to do it. That does mean a lot to me. I try not to forget.”
— Ryan Thomas