UK Nurse Posts Pic of Colleague’s Swollen, Bruised Face After Wearing Mask for 11-Hour Shift

(Illustration - Getty Images)

A British nurse has shared a photo of his colleague’s swollen, bruised face after wearing a mask throughout a grueling 11-hour hospital shift on social media. The photo is stoking debate about the sacrifices made by front line healthcare workers and the lack of personal protective equipment during the CCP virus outbreak.

“She'll absolutely murder me for posting this,” said the nurse on Twitter on April 8, 2020, as quoted by the Daily Mail, “but working the long hours in intensive care and wearing full PPE for 11 hours of her shift is causing Katie so much pain.”

“Her face is so swollen and bruised,” the nurse continued, “but she never moans and still smashes in them shifts. Ma warrior.”

Many netizens left messages of support after the shocking snapshot of nurse Katie’s bruised face was shared by British news media on Facebook. “I am so sorry for what this disease is doing to so many people,” wrote one netizen, “and this poor nurse ... she keeps on going on just [to] save others when she should be taking care of herself, you are an angel sent from heaven.”

“People like you are the real heroes and always have been,” wrote another.

Some of the NHS staff revealed to The Guardian in early April that they were reluctant to share their own tales of horror from the front lines for fear of disciplinary action, and maybe even losing their jobs.

“As healthcare workers I think we feel generally quite secure; there’s always work for nurses,” one anonymous NHS employee explained. “But in my correspondence with the communications department, I felt quite powerless all of a sudden. It makes me so sad.”

A spokesperson for NHS England responded by clarifying the healthcare trust’s overarching approach. “No such threats should ever be made to NHS staff,” they said, “and NHS staff remain free to speak in a personal capacity about their work.”

A demonstrator wearing a face mask protests holding signs reading "PPE" outside of St Thomas' Hospital in central London, England, on April 7, 2020 (©Getty Images | ISABEL INFANTES)

The spokesperson added that it is vital that the public receives swift, authoritative, clear, and consistent information from their healthcare body as the global pandemic continues.

Speaking on behalf of vulnerable individuals everywhere, on April 8, the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) expressed concern that a lack of personal protective equipment in hospitals and other healthcare settings was “fundamentally compromising” both patient care and workers’ safety.

In a letter to the parliamentary Health Committee chairman Jeremy Hunt, RCN’s chief executive, Dame Donna Kinnair, stated that nurses were being forced to choose between their duty to their patients and their own safety as well as that of their families.

As reported by The Guardian, a Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson released a statement on April 6 claiming that 600 million items of PPE—including masks, gowns, aprons, and gloves—had been delivered to hospitals and NHS healthcare establishments since mid-March.

“The full weight of the government is behind this effort,” they said.