Louisville nurse asks public to send holiday letters to COVID unit colleagues

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WAVE) - A Louisville nurse is hoping to spread some holiday cheer to her co-workers as they continue to care for COVID patients.

“There are times where it is tough and I just want them to know that they are so appreciated in every situation that they have endured during this pandemic,” nurse Amy Jo DeVault said.

Since March, DeVault has managed a team of nurses within a COVID unit at University of Louisville Hospital. Two weeks ago, they became overwhelmed after seeing a surge of hospitalizations from the virus.

“You know there are days that are really good where we get to send patients home, then there are the bad days where our patients decline and we have to upgrade them to the intensive care unit,” she said.

Looking for a way to uplift her fellow nurses, DeVault made a Facebook post Sunday asking for drawings and encouraging messages from children. She told WAVE 3 News she was inspired by the kind letters she received from students at her daughter’s elementary school earlier this year. DeVault said she would call team huddles and read the students’ messages aloud at shift changes.

“There’s one kid who wrote jokes for us just to start laughing. There was pictures of superheroes like, ‘You’re our superhero,’ and then there were some really well-written letters that had some of my staff in tears because of just how elegant the writing was and how it touched them deep down to know that somebody can see what we’re doing here, and they’re appreciating our hard word,” she said.

DeVault’s social media request has been shared more than 200 times so far. She hopes that support turns into letters sent and received so her team can hang them up and draw strength from the optimism of children in the tough times ahead.

“They need this, they need this to get through this surge, they need this to get through the holidays and not seeing their love ones on Christmas. This is going to make a difference in their life,” she said.

DeVault’s team can be contacted at the following address:

• University of Louisville Hospital

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