AAS Ethics Committee Online Auction – Artist Madhuri Nagaraj

About the Art: Do No Harm – A central tenet of medicine is “Do No Harm.” Yet, every COVID ICU shift that I worked, I felt that I broke that tenet, or at least bent it dramatically. I watched as many providers struggled under the strain of a myriad patient and family’s expectations for constant updates, unduly prolong care, visitation rights while barely balancing the ability to care for an ever-growing list of patients and maintaining the requisite minimum sleep and wellbeing. I felt like ATLAS, suffering under this burden made of so many factors when really the patient was quietly suffering the most. The healthcare provider has no identifiable features because it is all of us – doctors, nurses, respiratory therapists, frontline workers, and others – as we continue to try and support this ongoing challenge.

About the Artist: Madhuri Nagaraj is a general surgery resident at the University of Texas Southwestern in Dallas. Her goals are to pursue a career in critical care, and her time spent in the COVID-ICU was a large driving force in affirming those plans. In her spare time, she loves drawing and writing poetry, and has lately begun learning watercolor techniques. Though her art rarely reflects her work life, it is in times like these where those boundaries blur dramatically.