Hamilton ICU nurse takes chilling plunge for her patients
Published March 3, 2022 at 11:21 am
A Hamilton ICU nurse is using her chilling pastime to bring peace and comfort to people nearing the end of their lives.
Hamilton’s Yulia Shevchenko, a longtime nurse with St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamiton who works in the ICU, has pledged to take 333 polar swims in the frigid waters of Lake Ontario in an effort to raise awareness about an initiative that is very near and dear to her heart.
St. Joe’s 3 Wishes Project is a program that supports end-of-life care in the ICU by granting final wishes for patients. The initiative was created by a team of St. Joe’s clinicians who wanted to bring peace to patients in their final moments.
“As a critical-care nurse, death is a part of life in the ICU,” Shevchenko said.
“Each death leaves a scar on our hearts, but it helps to process the loss when a family can be there to plan for their loved one’s passing, hold their hand, and honour their last wishes – whether it’s visiting St. Joe’s spiritual garden to feel the sun on their face, or reuniting with family members one last time.”
The importance of a project like 3 Wishes was underscored during the pandemic as Shevchenko and her colleagues became a lifeline between patients and their loved ones.
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Much of the time, hospital staff stepped in to comfort patients so they wouldn’t die alone, while family members said goodbye virtually, or from behind a glass door.
“The last two years have been heartbreaking for everyone on the unit,” Shevchenko said.
“Personally, I had a really hard time watching patients on ventilators dying alone, their families devastated because they couldn’t be there in their final days. It became unbearable and my mental health suffered.”
It was in trying to help herself cope that Shevchenko said she turned polar swimming in March 2021. At that time, she took her first plunge into the extreme pastime and hasn’t looked back since.
“It was hard at the beginning, of course, but now ice swimming is something I look forward to,” she said.
“For me, ice swimming helped, and it still helps because it’s really tough working in the ICU. Pandemic restrictions are lifting but, behind closed doors in the ICU, we continue to care for patients with COVID-19.”
She cautions, however, that ice swimming isn’t for everyone, and does not advise trying it without speaking to a health-care professional first.
Shevchenko is chronicling her polar 333 polar dips on Instagram and has so far completed 50. Donations to 3 Wishes in support of Shevchenko can be made via the St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton Foundation’s website.
More information about the 3 Wishes Project can be found on the St. Joe’s website.
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