Melissa Thomas Scott spoke to Tamron Hall Tuesday on her show, saying, "I reacted out of stress, fear.”
A fed-up nurse has gone viral after she took to Facebook to quit her job after being placed on a floor with patients being tested for COVID-19.
“I quit! I care about the patients and all but my kids and my life, they matter, they come first,” Melissa Thomas Scott declared in her video.
Thomas Scott, a breast cancer survivor and mom of four, made the difficult decision after being assigned to a floor where patients are being tested for coronavirus inside a Georgia hosptial.
"My manager sent me to a floor that's being tested for Corona. She knows my health history. She knows all of this,” she said in her video. “I told her my kids don't have anybody to go to while they're here. I can't send my kids away like everybody else. I'm done, I'm leaving."
She walked out of Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital in Albany, which has been the hardest hit in her state as more than 350 patients and counting are battling COVID-19 inside.
Her video has gotten mixed reaction on social media after it was posted last week.
“Good on your for standing up for yourself,” was one comment.
Others said it was part of the job, stressing, “it’s what you sign up for when you’re a nurse!”
Thomas Scott spoke to Tamron Hall Tuesday on her show, saying, "I reacted out of stress, fear.”
“There is a nationwide shortage of protective personal equipment. So we are being required to reuse the same gown and same masks the entire shift,” she added.
Scott says she does wish she handled the situation differently.
"I work hard for my nursing degree, of course I don't want to just give up nursing and I love where I work. I doubt that they are going to let me come back and I do regret how I handled it. Like I said, you're not thinking clearly when you're upset,” she said.
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