Letter to the editor: UPMC nurses are overwhelmed

I am a nurse at UPMC in Pittsburgh, and I believe UPMC is misleading the public with the recent press conference (“UPMC expects to receive covid vaccine soon, distribute to health care workers after authorization”). Nurses at UPMC are overwhelmed, scared and anxious about what is to come. The statement by Leslie Davis about a sense of calm at all of the hospitals is false. Many of us are not calm.

I am concerned that this optimistic message that UPMC is sending is more for its profit gains. It is telling the public the wrong message. Covid-19 will overwhelm us, and we all need to do our part to slow the surge. UPMC must place its hubris aside and accept the reality of this pandemic. While profits are essential to ensure the future of UPMC in our region, we cannot put a dollar on the damage that will happen to our nurses, doctors and other health care professionals by ignoring reality and operating as usual.

We no longer feel like heroes. Many of us have a sense of dread, foreboding and futility in our calling to help care for people and what is to come. We need everyone to do their part — mask, wash their hands and social distance.

Tyler Traister

Garfield