Nashville, Tennessee - Kathryn has only been working as a trained nurse for a few months. But due to the coronavirus pandemic, this short period of time has already taken a toll on her – both physically and mentally.

On Twitter, the 27-year-old shared a shocking before-and-after comparison.

In the first photo, taken shortly before her graduation in April, Kathryn beams into the camera while looking fresh and well rested.

But in the selfie that she took recently, she looks like a completely different person.

There's hardly anything left of the young, cheerful-looking woman. Instead, she looks tired and worn out. Deep circles under her eyes, sunken cheeks, and the deep marks left by the tight-fitting protective equiptment are only the external signs of the stress the young nurse has endured.

The hidden, emotional scars left by the crisis are just as serious.

"It is devastating to watch people die when those deaths were avoidable and it's even more devastating when you watch them die the same way, time after time after time," she wrote under her tweet.

The photo has already been shared almost 87,000 times on Twitter.

Many users believe that Kathryn's post serves to highlight the stresses and strains experienced by doctors and nurses treating the coronavirus.

Kathryn does not expect infection rates to drop in the coming weeks, as Thanksgiving and Christmas approach. She has come to terms with the fact that things will get worse before they get better.

Despite the intensity of her job, the young woman has not lost her passion for the profession: "I love being a nurse. Didn't exactly expect to be a new nurse in the middle of a highly politicized pandemic but life comes at you fast and even in a pandemic, there's nothing else I want to do. Caring for the sickest of the sick is an honor and I treasure my patients."

As Thanksgiving approaches, Kathryn's patients are certainly grateful for her dedication to their health and well-being.