Saving Lives Daily in the Pediatric Emergency Room

Between February 2020 and June 2023, the total number of licensed practical nurses employed by NYC Health + Hospitals plummeted 37 percent. The total number of Registered Nurses (RN) dropped 6.4 percent.

While many nurses resigned or retired as the COVID-19 ravaged New York City hospitals, others stayed on the front lines, risking their lives to treat patients in the pandemic’s epicenter.

“We were basically doing...almost wartime medicine trying to keep people alive,” said RN Petar Lovric.

Lovric has saved countless lives at Elmhurst Hospital, which is home to one of the country’s busiest emergency departments.

Lovric works in the ER’s pediatric unit. He loves working with children. “When you watch a patient go from extremely sick to discharged to their parents, it’s incredible,” he said.

But the job is not always joyous; some nurses choose not to work in pediatrics because it is particularly painful to lose a patient. He has also seen devastating cases of abuse: “Some things that should never be repeated.”

Over the course of nearly 10 years on the job, Lovric has worked hard to help every patient that comes through the door.

“We are the last line of defense before harm reaches a patient,” Petar said.

When paramedics brought a baby in distress into the hospital and didn’t know what was wrong, Lovric checked the baby’s eyes. He saw that the pupils were pinpoints: a telltale signs of an opioid overdose.

“Fentanyl opioid overdose is pretty common. Not as common in children. How do you treat it? The answer is there’s not good [medical] literature,” Lovric said.

He administered narcan, but it was not an easy task. “Where do you find a narcan drip for a tiny baby? You don’t,” he said. “I had to create a narcan drip.”

Lovric saved the baby’s life three or four times that day.

Another time, a three-year-old girl was rushed into the pediatrics emergency room with a life-threatening asthma attack. Lovric had seen her before; she was a regular patient at the hospital because of her asthma, but this attack was extreme. She was close to death.

“I really didn’t know if she was going to make it,” Lovric said.

Lovric’s shift had ended hours earlier, but “I realized I could not go home.”

The hospital was short staffed and had filled nursing roles through an agency, but Lovric said the two agency nurses available were lacking in experience; both had been on the job for less than a year.

To ensure the asthmatic patient got the care she needed, Lovric stayed at the hospital, working over 18 hours straight to save her life.

“That one sticks with me,” Lovric said, thinking about that day. “It will stick with me forever,”

Despite the long hours and high-stress, Lovric is dedicated to serving New Yorkers through his work at Elmhurst Hospital. Because it’s a public hospital, “We have fewer resources, more patients, and now we are getting less pay,” he said. Lovric became a member of the New York State Nurses Association to advocate for pay parity and better working conditions.

At home, Lovric has a drawer full of thank-you cards from patients and their family members.

“I love my job,” he said. “I love working with kids. I love talking with them. I love cracking jokes, keeping it light. Just because you’re sick, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t have a good day.”