Last weekend, Kelsey Bergman saw her family for the first time in five months since she started working as a resident nurse in the intensive care unit in August. 

“I used to work at the same hospital as a patient care technician through nursing school, so I was already familiar with how the hospital ran,” UT alumna Bergman said. “Then whenever I started as a (resident nurse), that's when the pandemic had happened. … It made everything feel so real and so scary.” 

There have been over 25.3 million COVID-19 cases and over 420,000 COVID-19 deaths in the United States, according to The New York Times database. According to a projection from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, the death toll is expected to reach nearly 570,000 in the U.S. by May.

Bergman, who graduated from UT in May with a bachelor’s degree in nursing, said it takes a lot of teamwork and support from her colleagues at St. David’s Medical Center to work through the overtime hours during the pandemic.

“I definitely think that everyone is burning out a little bit,” Bergman said. “We all have a positive attitude together that keeps us going as a group because we're all there living it every day.”

Bergman returned to her hometown of Frisco, Texas, for her mother’s birthday Jan. 22 after spending the winter holidays either at work or isolated in her apartment.

“I kept reminding myself that all of our patients are there by themselves without any family and spending the holiday alone in the hospital,” Bergman said. “I try to boost the mood for my patients and wish them a Merry Christmas and hold their hand while no one else could. It felt good to have a purpose to serve over the holidays.” 

Kelsey’s mother, Lynn Bergman, said her heart broke after Kelsey canceled her plans to come home because it was too risky. Lynn said she would send Kelsey little Christmas gifts throughout December to keep Kelsey’s spirits up.

“As a parent, you're trying to be supportive without showing your own fear for the situation as well,” Lynn said.

Lynn said she left the Christmas tree up in her house so it would feel like an extension of the holidays when Kelsey returned for her birthday.

“It was the first time any of us got to hug her or put our arms around her,” Lynn said. “It was the best birthday present, obviously, that I could have ever had.”

Rachel Bershad, a UT alumna with a bachelor’s degree in nursing, works with children as a resident nurse at a San Antonio hospital. Bershad said it was an emotional experience getting both doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine in December and January.

“It was surreal,” Bershad said. “Walking in the room and just being with happy and hopeful people — it almost made you want to cry.”

Bershad said volunteering to administer vaccines was a fulfilling experience. She said that getting the vaccine is a personal decision, but the benefits outweighed the possible risks for her.

“People came in so happy and excited,” Bershad said. “Some were nervous, but it was like the most wild human interaction that I've had in the last nine months.”

Kelsey Bergman said getting vaccinated was a “wave of relief” knowing that there could be a positive light in the future.

“I knew the nurse who had administered the vaccine to me. … We were like, ‘Oh my gosh, this is history in the making,’” Bergman said. “I'll never forget that moment. Like if I close my eyes, I'll be able to see everything and feel everything forever.”