Nurse literally shouting in the hallway because I asked people to wear an N95 for my procedure

Today I had to have a procedure where I needed to temporarily have my mask off (for about 20 min). I requested that all people going to be near me wear an N95 to best protect me especially since it is peak freaking respiratory season. I will say most everyone was AWESOME! They were very understanding and put one on even though I suspect most wanted surgical masks.

However, there was one nurse that went absolutely wild in the hallway. To put it in perspective I was in a room with a completely closed door and heard her voice like she was standing right next to me. She was still standing by the nurses station about 30 feet away when I poked my head out temporarily to see what the ruckus was. She started literally screaming that she would NOT be wearing an N95. She then very loudly asked, “is she even physically sick?!” And then she pulled almost every provider that was working on my case aside to talk about how ridiculous I was being for literally just asking, “could the people working on me in the procedure room please wear an N95?” Some of the staff I heard supporting her, which sucked too.

It’s stuff like this that makes me feel absolutely nuts and makes me want to give up. She was obviously very wrong for what she did as it was extremely unprofessional. But what gets to me even more is a.) how many people I heard agreeing with her and b.) how many providers that I do really respect don’t mask or at least don’t use N95s. It takes a lot for me to form respect for providers because of the experiences I’ve had before, so when I see the ones I do respect choosing to not mask, it makes me question my judgement and makes me feel crazy.

I guess I’m just looking for reassurance that I’m not as crazy as what I was made to feel like today and every time I meet with a respected non-N95 wearing healthcare professional. 😭 Thanks for listening!