They put themselves at risk whenever
they walk into a patient’s room. One
may ask, why don’t you just quit? To
most nurses, that thought does not
even enter their minds. They could
not fathom walking out on their co-
worker and leaving them with the
burden to bare. They have a special
bond and see the selflessness in each
other. One nurse told of how she saw
her co-worker as a hero because of the
sacrifices made. Sacrifices one could
not even imagine, such as sending
their children to stay with family
members to keep them safe or not
being able to hug their children as
soon as they get home. Hero? YES!
Imagine the responsibility of taking
care of a COVID patient..what is the
day really like..how has it changed?
Pre-COVID healthcare is
completely different! Many healthcare
workers enter the patient’s rooms
helping take care of the them. Dietary
brings in the meals…environmental
services cleans the rooms, patient
18 LAKE WEDOWEE LIFE
advocates visits and many others. The
nurse goes in and out many times a
day with just a knock on the door…
but COVID has changed it all.
When the nurse arrives at work,
they enter the “clean room” as they
call it. This is where they change
into medical scrubs and gather their
personal protective equipment (PPE)
to begin their day on the COVID
floor. They enter the COVID unit,
with a surgical mask on, for the
remainder of their shift. They take
report on the patients they will care
for and immediately ask, “who is my
respiratory therapist (RT) for the
shift?” The RT is called many times
through the shift to help the nurse
manage pulmonary crisis. The nurse
begins their rounds, but it is much
different now. Before the nurse or any
healthcare worker can enter a COVID
patient room, they have to change into
a N-95 respirator (mask), don a gown,
safety glasses, and gloves. Nurses carry
everything they need into the room:
water, ice, towels, sheets, hospital gown
for the patient, meds, etc..everything!
Fortunately, if they do forget one item,
there are “runners” who can go get it
for them. When the nurse leaves the
patient’s room, they remove the gown
and place it in the laundry bin just
outside the patient’s door and remove
their PPE (change back into their
surgical mask). They move on to their
next patient. The same ritual happens
again… N-95..gown…glasses…
gloves… On average a nurse will go
through this routine 15 - 20 times a
day. All healthcare workers entering a
COVID patient room, will go through
this same routine…numerous times a
day! All this and washing their hands
to keep everyone safe and healthy!
Pre-COVID, family members would
stay and help take care of loved ones,
but now, the nurse is the sole caregiver.
They take their meals to them and
help feed those that are too weak. They
provide everything for the patient:
an ear to listen, a hand to hold..the
nurses are with them when they get
well and get to go home…they are also