Southcoast Health Spotlights Healthcare Heroes During National Nurses Week

Stories from the #SouthcoastFrontlines: Michele Tsaliagos, ICU Nurse

The past year has brought unimaginable challenges to our community. As we each do our part to get vaccinated and continue to see signs of returning to a new normal, it is important to acknowledge the incredible work that many individuals across our community have done to help us get to this point.
Here at Southcoast Health, we are extremely thankful for everyone who has helped on the Frontlines of COVID-19. Michele Tsaliagos, another #SouthcoastFrontlines Hero, shared her experience working in the St. Luke’s Intensive Care Unit (ICU) throughout the pandemic.

Michele has been an ICU nurse for about eight years at St. Luke’s Hospital. Since she was young, nursing was always something that interested her, and she knew she wanted to pursue it as a career. Once a nurse, she was especially interested in working in the ICU to push herself to continue learning and helping others when they needed it most.

In early 2020, no one could have predicted what ICUs across the world would face in the next year.
“As an ICU nurse, you want to bring people back to health. You want them to get better and go home,” Michele says. “During COVID, we didn’t see that as often. It was really hard.” Reflecting on this time now, Michele is thankful for the strong team she worked alongside. With no visitors allowed in the hospitals because of the COVID-19 guidelines, the nurses, physicians, and staff leaned on each other as would a family as they navigated the unknown.

“My team of fellow nurses — we all helped each other out. We shared our experiences and became a support system for each other, as we all were sharing the same feelings and were able to understand. Everyone jumped in and had each other’s backs, making sure everyone was protected from the virus.”

Continue reading Michele’s story at: https://www.southcoast.org/southcoast-frontlines-icu-nurse-tsaliagos/