Nurse practitioner believes South Dakotans are better than this

We’ve heard from a South Dakota traveling emergency room nurse who spoke about how some COVID-19 patients still don’t believe the virus is real, even on their death beds.

Tonight another health care professional is speaking out about the toll the last 8 months have taken on her and the problems she sees with the way South Dakota is handling the pandemic.

Before the pandemic hit, Nurse Practitioner Jess Lomheim worked at a South Dakota Indian reservation clinic and Rapid City’s urgent care.

But her own autoimmune disease has forced her to see patients via telehealth for the last eight months. Because she is an independent nursing contractor in Iowa and Wisconsin, she says she has more freedom to speak out and paint a true picture of what’s happening in the pandemic.

“This is worst case scenario–hospitals full at the start of upper respiratory and viral season. Everyone is worn out. We don’t have resources to call in like the coasts did,” Lomheim said.

Lomheim says because she works in multiple states, she has developed a good picture of what’s going on across the upper Midwest.

“You can’t ship people out to us anymore. There are no beds to go to. Or if there are beds, there are no nurses to serve those beds. We have limited resources,” Lomheim said.

Lomheim believes direction to keep people out of the hospital must come from the top.