more of the regular stuff, the “bread and butter” of the ER, as her coworker Peggy Heppner calls it. Abdominal pain. Chest pain. Dizziness. Headaches. Lacerations. But the COVID-19 cases didn’t stop either. Add a pandemic to a busy ER and you get overworked healthcare providers. Sowles vividly remembers not being able to take breaks to eat or use the bathroom. Twelve hour shifts on her feet. Getting home, exhausted, finding Nelson asleep. Waking up before him to go to her next shift, and giving him a quick kiss on the cheek before leaving. “Other than that there was no conversation,” Sowles said. She missed what she wasn’t doing. She wasn’t indulging in her favorite pastimes, like going to wineries or playing cribbage with her husband. She wasn’t meeting with her mentees from church. She wasn’t going to bar trivia. She wasn’t getting to visit her nieces and nephews as much as she wanted. She wasn’t sleeping well. But this is the life she chose. The patients come first. Before loved ones, and too often, before mental health. The atmosphere at work and the public view of healthcare workers didn’t help either, especially when compared to the first half of 2020. From an emphasis on teamwork in the workplace to being short with one another. From being praised as “healthcare heroes” to receiving a slew of expletives from patients who feel their medical freedom is impinged upon when encouraged to get vaccinated. Sowles believes everyone is just tired, but it still makes it hard to do her job well. “I’ve never had patients be more rude to me than they are now,” Heppner said. Nearing the end of her rope, Sowles knew something needed to change. After talking to her sister, Esther O’Donnell, Sowles decided it might be best to give herself more time off. Still, it was hard for her to pull the trigger. Sowles knew that if she cut back her hours, someone else would have to pick them up. Hospitals were already understaffed. She thought of the patients waiting overnight in a lobby to be seen despite an open bed across the hall, but no nurse available to board them. Or the man who waited in the lobby for three hours to be seen while actively having a heart attack. She didn’t want to contribute to the problem. “It wouldn’t surprise me if she would pick up shifts when she feels like this ... she gets filled by that,” O’Donnell said. Eventually, Sowles obliged, and so did her supervisors. She cut down to working at 80% of a full-time schedule, giving her another day or two off during the week. Even in the past year, she’s made it a priority to take weekend trips with her husband or visit her nieces and nephews in Waconia. She’s hoping some extra time off will grant her more of these rejuvenating sessions, allowing her to come back to work as a good, positive provider. She hasn’t seen a drastic change yet, but a small one. The extra days allow her to go for runs and train
Sowles takes out a spleen on her clinical rotation at Abbott Northwestern while in PA school at Bethel University. This was her general surgery rotation, which she enjoyed and sparked her interest in emergency medicine. “The nice thing about the ER is you can see a bit of everything,” Sowles said. | Sumbitted by Greta Sowles
for marathons like she used to. One Wednesday, she bakes cookies to give away to all the hungry kids at youth group. The slow mornings are starkly contrasted from the work environment she described as sometimes being “toxic.” With even just a little more time away, her hope is to be more present with patients and colleagues while at work, remembering to have more grace for everyone. One afternoon away from the hospital, Sowles moseys around the kitchen of her home in St. Louis Park. It feels refreshing to move slowly. The glossy white cabinets reflect the sunlight streaming in from the windows. On the opposite wall, there’s a baby grand piano taking up half the room that she hasn’t played in in a while. She
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used to love playing. Maybe she’ll pick it up again on one of her off days. Nelson sits at the kitchen table near her. They’re discussing the details of an upcoming trip they are taking to Florida. He’s attending a conference there, and Sowles is spending some of her precious days off to join him. Sowles sets her espresso on a textbook labeled “Advanced Trauma Life Support.” She has a recertification exam on Monday, and begins to justify why she is studying on her day off to her husband. He just laughs and shakes his head. “She’s gonna pass with flying colors,” Nelson said. Des i gne d by Arie l Dunleavy
