and at london's royal free hospital, staff spoke openly of the mental strain on the front line.e shed tears for our patients, we do. when we met this nurse, she'd only started her nursing career a few months earlier. but already, she'd seen more deaths and bereavement than some who'd been nursing for many years. to protect her parents, she's moved out of the family home and is living on her own. we don't have time, you know? if a patient dies, i have seven other patients to take care of. i have to cry and wipe my tears and go to my next patient and say, "hi, are you ready for your evening meds?" and be happy because they won't know. but when you go home and there's silence and there's no family, that's when it hits. when people die and when we can't actually make them better, i think the feeling is so awful and so overwhelming, and so devastating. claire is head chaplain at royal free london. her role involves visiting patients in the wards and comforting their families. and she supports staff, and understands the immense emotional strain on them. when you're in the middle of th

and, at london's royal free hospital, staff spoke openly of the mental strain on the front line.r parents, she's moved out of the family home and is living on her own. we don't have time, you know — if a patient dies, i have seven other patients to take care of. i have to cry and wipe my tears and go to my next patient and say, "hi, are you ready for your evening meds?" and be happy — because they won't know. but when you go home and there's silence, and there's no family, that's when it hits. when people die and when we can't actually make them better, i think the feeling is so awful and so overwhelming, and so devastating. claire is head chaplain at royal free london. her role involves visiting patients in the wards and comforting their families. and she supports staff, and understands the immense emotional strain on them. when you're in the middle of that trauma and seeing patients dying — and also in very traumatic circumstances, often alone — i think for staff, that's just incredibly heartbreaking. and things that might happen once a year, or once in a while, are happening e