Thuymi Nguyen has been working in critical care for a decade. As an agency nurse, she was used to working in hospitals around South Florida. Since the pandemic began, her work has taken her to two other states, where she spent four months on the front lines of the battle against COVID-19.
The traveling nurse is based in South Florida, but the coronavirus compelled her to go to ICUs as far as Connecticut and New York City, where she fought against the virus during the height of its wrath in the Tri-state area.
"Every day we were there for 12 hours a day, five days a week. One day off, five days on, so you just live in that moment. In that zone,” Nguyen recounted.
Nguyen returned to Miami and to her 13-year-old daughter in June, when her contract was up in the Big Apple. She expected to rest and recover, but soon after, South Florida became the COVID-19 epicenter of the nation.
“I can't just sit here and not do anything. And knowing that I brought all the experience from New York, clinically. I grew as a person. I know I could give back one more time,” Nguyen said.
So two weeks ago, Nguyen took on one more assignment at Jackson Memorial Hospital’s COVID-19 unit. There she works 12 hour days for nine days straight.
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"To go back in it again, it’s like you know, it’s just God’s work,” Nguyen affirmed.
Her contract at JMH ends at the end of August and she hopes to take a much-needed respite after that.
