'My hair's been falling out': Nurses hit with protest stress after 2 years of COVID

COVID-19 might have a lessened impact on many residents compared to last month, or earlier in the pandemic, but nurses are still in the thick of the pandemic and some say the ongoing protest in Ottawa has left them tired and defeated.

Hospital staff have cared for patients throughout the pandemic, but the situation reached a crisis point in this past wave with severe staff shortages, outbreaks, and new COVID-19 hospitalization records.Ottawa set a new pandemic high with 142 patients hospitalized with active COVID on Jan. 16.

Less than two weeks after that record was set, the convoy arrived and the ongoing protest beganfocused on endingCOVID-19 rules across Canada.

The protest has now reached its 14th day forcingthe closure of downtown streets, businesses and services, while leavinglocalsscared and frustratedincluding nurses.

"I'm stressed going home.I'm stressed coming back from work. It's been awful. My hair's been falling out," saidAndrea Waddell, a nurse at The Ottawa Hospital who uses public transit to commute.

I'm stressed going home.I'm stressed coming back from work. It's been awful.- Andrea Waddell, nurse

Waddell has reliedon rideshares since the protestbegan because of the protest'simpact on public transit, and has often arrived to work early in fear of potential traffic delays.

"That extra level of tiredness, it slows you down naturallyand it takes you longer to do simple tasks," Waddell said.

Nurse Vanessa Rondeau says she, like some other Ottawa residents, hasbeen harassed for wearing a mask outside on the street. After spending two years on the front lines of the pandemic, she says this treatmenthas begun to affect her work.

"The protests have definitely made it worse," Rondeau said. "I do find myself a little bit more put out at work, a little bit shorter."

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Rondeau, who works at The Ottawa Hospital's Civic campus,said the number of people protesting COVID-19 health measures, including vaccine mandates, has left her feeling defeated.

"On my way home from work, it's hard to see people [protest]. It almost feels like they're opposed to what I'm doing," she said.

Protests have made things 'even more difficult'

The protest hasalso affectedstaff at both the lisabeth BruyreHospitaland its sister campus, the Saint-Vincent Hospital near Bronson Avenue,according to the hospital's administration. Both are near the core.

"It's making a difficult situation even more difficult," said Rachel Muir, anOttawanursewho also heads the local bargaining unit of the Ontario Nurses Association.

Muir said there are several nurses who live downtown and havelost multiple nights of sleep because of the honking, which hasonly recently been silenced thanks to a court injunction.

WATCH |Protesters' idling trucks are making downtown Ottawa's air quality worse:

Air quality near Ottawa protest zone worse than Mexico City

3 years ago

Duration 2:01

Idling diesel trucks at the Ottawa protest are pushing harmful emissions into the air, making the air quality four times worse than in Mexico City, a CBC News analysis shows.

Health-care staff are also concerned the protests, made up of large crowds of people refusing to wear face coverings, will lead to a spike in COVID-19 hospitalizations overloading a health-care system already functioning beyond capacity, she said.

"Ultimately, all we want to do is care for people and do what we do," Muir said.

"We're not impeding anybody's freedom of expression or freedom of choice because we have the same choices, and we are making different choices."