tonight, nurses traveling from hot zone to hot zone fighting covid across america. >> so this is my home for the next month or so. i'm in arizona. >> we take you inside a year-long battle against a new and deadly disease. >> today is day 12 of 20-something, i lost count. >> answering desperate calls for help while risking their own lives. >> today, actually, we were short because more nurses are sick. >> finding strength in faith and family. >> i always tell myself that i only know how strong i am when all i have to be is strong. >> this special edition of "nightline," "hero strong," will be right back. plaque psorias.

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♪ thanks for joining us. president biden delivering his first primetime address to the nation tonight, touting a new covid relief package and those stimulus checks. as well as directing all states to make vaccines available to every american adult by may 1st. >> i will not relent until we beat this virus.

but i need you, the american people. i need you. >> this as the country today marks one year since the coronavirus outbreak was declared a pandemic, a battle that has since called upon tens of thousands of traveling nurses putting service before self. >> i'm traveling to new york tomorrow. >> can i travel too? >> you get to come and visit. i've never wanted to completely be away from my kids and my husband for such a long period of time. when i'm leaving out again it's always, when will you be back? when should we expect you? you can tell by how tight the hugs are -- >> love you. >> for traveling nurses, those on the outside looking in see, oh, she's going for a vacation. or, she gets to be away from all the chaos. in actuality, i don't get a

chance to be with my family. i don't get a chance to hug my kids or to kiss my husband. every day of the week. and so it's -- it's a challenge. and it's a sacrifice that not everybody's willing to make. it's just that i've been chosen to make it. my name is dekoioa billy. i am a travel nurse. >> i'm bridget harrigan. i'm 28 years old and i am a travel nurse. you miss out on family things, birthdays. i've missed christmas before. there are definitely sacrifices. as a nurse, it's a helping kind of career. my patients are getting sicker and sicker. >> and today is day 35 away from my family. it's a new day to save lives. >> i've always wanted to be in a place where i could make the biggest impact.

the pandemic was no different. >> i am worried after each shift. i got a bad feeling. and most of the time your bad feeling is right. >> covid has presented a world of chaos, sadness. >> more nurses are sick. this is what a tired nurse looks like. >> i always tell myself that i only know how strong i am when all i have to be is strong. >> new york's first case of coronavirus affected a 39-year-old health care worker who had just -- >> world health organization now declaring a global pandemic -- >> bottom line, it's going to get worse. >> it all just happened so fast, and it changed the course of travel nursing. i knew i had to go. for me, there was no question about it.

they assigned me to elmhurst hospital in queens, new york. the epicenter of the epicenter. it was the one on the news with nurses filming themselves crying in the corner. i worked almost every single day of those eight weeks. >> doctors on the front lines warning hospitals are increasingly overwhelmed. >> my first assignment was here in new york. it was scary. >> more than 1,500 new yorkers dying from the virus this weekend alone. >> we were still learning things about this virus. we'd think about the lives lost. and, you know, the families that were hurting. you think about your own family. i have jalen. he's 16. i have elijah. he's 4. and then i have carington. he's the oldest of the twins. kinsley is the youngest and she's the only girl. i figured, okay, this is serious, it's not going anywhere.

i still need to help provide for my family. so do i do that by staying here and putting them at risk? or do i go away and work where i'm not coming home and bringing this unknown virus back home? >> all right, break dancing over there! >> the twins were about 3 months old. i was pumping because they were premature. my husband, he told me, as long as i have milk, then i am good to go. i made sure i mailed it every week. >> this hasn't been our first rodeo with travel nursing. thankfully, we've had a lot of help from family members. when we explained it to the children, we just basically said that mom has a work assignment.

she'll be gone for a little bit, but she'll be back. >> he is phenomenal. he's absolutely amazing. we're here to support each other. this is no one-man show. >> when i first went to new york, i called my parents and my dad said, okay, you have to call me every day, sorry, i have to hear your voice every single day, to make sure that you're still doing okay. i think i really recognize the trauma that i'm building up, because i wasn't crying. i dreaded my days off because i had time to feel. and i had time to experience my emotions. then i began to dread my days off for entirely different reasons. because every single time i had a day off, my patient would pass away. we would lose everybody. then by week six through eight, it really started to slow down. and by that last week, it really did not feel like i was needed

as much anymore. >> june, a devastating month in the fight against the virus. >> the situation grows worse in the south and west. >> arizona also in the red zone, 1,000 out-of-state workers are also on their way. >> i'm always asked the same questions i'm usually asked. hey, bridget, do you have kids? and i say no, not yet. are you married? no, not yet. when i was younger, i definitely had a set plan for myself, that i would be settled down by now. i've really kind of let go of that extra pressure to put a time frame on myself or any limits. and i've noticed that i've been so much happier.

this is my home for the next month or so. i'm in arizona. it's got everything i really need. >> i was only supposed to be there four weeks. and then i ended up extending because it was continuing to get worse. >> this is my decontamination station. i try to put it as close to the door as possible so i'm not coming in and infecting anything. >> not too bad, the mask marks, today. when i was in new york, i definitely had some bad ones. i stick to this routine. it makes me feel better, makes me feel safer, and i have not gotten covid yet. soe'oi tkeep it >>ore th 3iles arica now the virus now spreading to nearly every county. >> hospitalizations there at a record high.

>> rise and shine. today is day -- 12 of -- 20-something, i've lost count. and i'm tired. but you push on another day, to help those in need. >> i'm all set. time to work out. here we go. walking into the building, day 21. happy tuesday. today is august 11th. today is day 35 away from my family. >> there are many times where i find myself getting frustrated on trying to juggle being a mom, being a wife, being a provider. however, i'm constantly reminding on why i do what i do. >> i wholeheartedly do feel that our family is on the front lines with her. because we're supporting her in this endeavor. and so facetime has really

gotten us through this period of absence. >> i've made large decisions, big decisions, major decisions my entire life, deciding to travel was nothing different. i always tell myself that i only know how strong i am when all i have to be is strong. so that's my only option? i know what i have to do. >> what makes you emotional? >> because i have been through so much. the pandemic is only a very small portion of it. i grew up being raised by my grandmother. while my mom went to prison for eight years. and i had my oldest son when i was a sophomore in high school. however, i had the support of my

family, of my church family. and i knew what i had to do. graduate with honors from my nursing program, went on to grad school. so it's like, whenever i'm faced with a challenge or something that seems -- may seem difficult for somebody or impossible for the next person, it's like, this is familiar for me. i was two weeks into my do.- assignment. i started to feel bad. >> up next, danger facing the virus. >> there we go! >> plus a surprise at home. nicorette® knows, quitting smoking is freaking hard. you get advice like: try hypnosis... or... quit cold turkey are you kidding me?! instead, start small. with nicorette®. which can lead to something big. start stopping with nicorette® antibacterial or moisturizing body wash? definitely moisturizer! antibacterial can i have both? new dove care & protect body wash eliminates 99% of bacteria and moisturizes for hours two for one! can i keep it?

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excuse my appearance. but i am not feeling very well. i am most likely going to go get tested tomorrow. >> i was about two weeks into my assignment. and i started to feel badly. >> so i have a fever now, 100.7. i'm definitely convinced that i have covid, because what else could it be? there we go. yep. i got it. >> i've been sick with pneumonia before. i've had the flu plenty of times. i've had strep plenty of times. i've never felt that way before. >> now i'm in line at the fairgrounds with a lot of other people waiting to get tested. so i'll let you guys know. but it's not looking good.

>> i stayed in my hotel room for 14 days. and it was very scary for me. everyone in my family talked to me every day, but my mom specifically, she threatened to pack her bags and drive every day to me. and i told her every day i was okay. even when i wasn't. because in my head i knew if my mom showed up here, she would end up in the hospital. and she may not make it. and there's no way i'm letting her do that. i eventually got better. >> hi, this is it, it's my last day working here in texas, for

now. i've been here since july 7th. and it is now september 22nd, 2020. >> when i told my husband that, you know, i was going to come on home, he knew, but the family did not know that i was coming. and so that was exciting. >> hello! hi! hi, guys! >> it was great to know that they remembered my face, even from our facetimes. and so -- it was great. >> how's it going? >> so each time she comes home from an assignment, it is definitely like christmas.

and it's extra special. >> let me see a double flip. oh, good job! >> i would recall phone calls with my 4-year-old, and he would ask, mom, when are you going to come home? and i said, as soon as i'm done. he says, yeah, okay, no problem. as long as he had an opportunity to see my stethoscope, he was okay with it. he would always take it and listen to my heart when i was year. >> good morning, mommy! >> i had a chance to be there, help encourage them to walk. >> go, girl! >> so that was very special. to be able to see that firsthand. >> every time she returns home, i do find myself having a sigh of relief inside. knowing that she's safe. >> getting to spend that quality time with my family definitely makes it harder to leave. but being able to go out and taking the knowledge that i have

and taking it to the next city, the next state -- that's what gives me hope and at i lk >> i started to see some posts about hawaii and guam assignments. at the time i had told myself, oh my gosh, i need that. it has thankfully been more time to heal. i'm still on a covid crisis assignment. i'm still working with covid patients. but it's been an incredible mental, emotional, even physical healing opportunity for me. >> that's it. this is more new york. >> love you too. >> when will i see you again? >> the end of the month.

it's good to be back in new york to continue what i started back in early april. sun's out, it's beautiful out, it's time to get ready. here at laguardia, we're able to catch and capture patients who have gotten off a flight, who need to travel and need a covid test like right away. the cdc says that you're to isolate for ten days. it does go full circle. now i feel like i have, if you will, wings on my shoulders. i have, you know, my tools in my hand. >> you're welcome, bye-bye. what?! ♪ whatever you have at home, knorr sides can turn nutritious veggies into mouthwatering meals. ♪ with knorr. can turn nutritious veggies into mouthwatering meals.

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♪ did you have a good day? say hello. >> who is in the -- >> i would most certainly do it all over again. >> when you hear those

"thank you for leaving your family." i would most certainly do it again. >> after this assignment, i'll probably accept another one and just keep going. to all the other travel nurses, just keep going. because if you don't, no one else will.