For Monica Watry, it was "amazing" to be heard.

Watry, who works as an ICU nurse in downtown Milwaukee, said she was getting ready for another long shift at the hospital Friday when she got a Zoom call from Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden.

"He was so compassionate and so caring and just really, really took the time to listen," Watry told the Journal Sentinel. "We video chatted for over 45 minutes, and then he called my cellphone right afterward and talked to my kids and talked to my husband, and he just really took the time to hear us."

Watry said Biden listened as she talked about the stress and fear facing her and other health care workers as they cope with an onslaught of coronavirus patients and deaths, and the toll her long hours at work has taken on her family.

"I admire the hell out of what you're doing," Biden told her during the chat.

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In video segments of the Zoom chat released by the Biden campaign, he also asked how her children are doing and noted the medical challenges his family has faced.

"I've been, unfortunately, a significant consumer of health care," Biden said at one point.

Biden's first wife and their 1-year-old daughter, Naomi, died in a car crash in 1972. Their two sons, Beau and Hunter, were injured in the crash but survived. Beau died of brain cancer in 2015 at 46.

Watry said it was an emotional call. At one point, she talked about reusing her mask due to concerns about shortages of personal protection equipment.

"We’ve been keeping ours and washing them and keeping them in bags, and cleaning them off. It’s terrible," said Watry, who asked that the name of her hospital not be included in the story. "It’s a lot of death at work. And, I’m worried about the health care professionals' mental health when this is over."

"So am I," Biden told her.

Watry said she and her husband, John, have also tried to comfort their children.

"My 10-year-old cries. She hears my phone ring and she wakes up and she cries and begs me not to go," she said. "But I just keep telling her everybody has a job in the community. My job is to go to work and help people who are sick."

Watry said she's been "very tired and very overwhelmed," but praised her call with Biden as "very refreshing."

"To have a personal video phone call from the former vice president and future president was phenomenal," she said in the interview. "It was amazing."

Watry, 35, said she's a Democrat who had backed other candidates in the past, but was definitely a Biden supporter now.

"I felt very much heard. I felt like I was representing a lot of health care and I feel like he took the time to listen," she said. "I think he's gonna take what I said into consideration."

Biden, the presumptive Democratic nominee, will face Republican President Donald Trump in November, and Wisconsin is expected to be a key swing state in this year's election.

Contact Mary Spicuzza at (414) 224-2324 or mary.spicuzza@jrn.com. Follow her on Twitter at @MSpicuzzaMJS.