Grainne Gallanagh has admitted she’s ‘cried herself to sleep’ while working as a nurse during the coronavirus pandemic.
The former Miss Universe Ireland bravely returned to work as a nurse earlier this year, in order to help those on the frontline.
Speaking to the Sunday World, Grainne said: “I have worked as a nurse for a number of years but this is a completely new scenario.”
“Working with people and seeing sad and horrible situations or just having horrible days; I have had to deal with that when I became a nurse.”
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“But this is extremely tough. And not every day you come home and you feel OK. I have, like all nurses, I have come home and cried myself to sleep over certain situations,” she confessed.
“We are only human. You just learnt to adapt and come up with ways to cope. I like being around my family.”
“If I have had a bad day I need to talk about it and vent. I have nurse friends and we talk to each other and once you have it off your chest you feel better.”
“I am lucky, I live near the sea, and if I am overwhelmed that is the first place I will go because I know I will feel better there. But it is something that every nurse has to learnt to cope with in time.”
The 25-year-old also said she hopes healthcare staff will be rewarded with a pay rise in the future.
Grainne said: “As a country we have very short memories. And the medical staff in this country, they kind of get acknowledged and then it goes away again. That’s not how it should be.”
“Fingers crossed, when Covid goes away and things have settled down, the medical staff will still be working themselves to the bone every day. Clapping is great but it doesn’t pay the bills.”
“And there should be so much more talking and consideration of pay rises for nurses in this country. There is so much that they do that they don’t get acknowledgment for.”
