industry & reform
Around 149 residents had been confined to their rooms and were under the team ’ s care , none of whom the young nurse had met before . Remembering her training , Shumayl began to highlight the highest priority residents in red , second in yellow , and third in blue .
Some of the residents were confused and anxious about the new strangers dressed in large , blue surgical gowns and facemasks .
“ You take baby steps with them , you tell them we have to do this to make sure you are safe , and we are safe ,” says Shumayl .
“ We used nonverbal communication with people that didn ’ t have the capability to understand .”
Residents would sit in their doorways and play corridor bingo , and staff organised one-on-one craft and leisure activities , and visits from physiotherapists .
The team , including the RNs , pharmacy staff and kitchen workers , all remained in constant communication . “ Everyone played a role ,” says Shumayl . It was around three days later when news of the outbreak hit the media , and photographers and reporters began to gather outside .
Worried families soon began inundating the home with calls to check on their loved ones .
“ Managing COVID itself is stressful enough , then reassuring families that their loved ones are okay , then making sure that they ’ re actually okay , and on top of that , we have the tension building up from the media ,” says Shumayl .
“ And every time you would see news , it would just be like , ‘ oh my god , are they going to say something good ?’.”
By this stage , Michelle was speaking with Westmead Hospital twice a day to check in on the hospitalised residents . In between taking phone calls from families and checking in on staff , she was also told she was responsible for addressing the large media presence outside .
Dressed in blue scrubs , goggles and a facemask , she walked outside to face the cameras .
“ I was naturally a little nervous ,” said Michelle .
“ I told them exactly what was happening , there was no point in trying to hide anything .”
The media glare was intense . Soon the daughter of two of the infected residents began to speak out publicly and the media camped out front of the home for the next 10 days .
Michelle also had to contend with images in the media that appeared to show distressed residents pressing their hands and faces up against the windows of the home . According to Michelle , the women in the photograph were living in the dementia unit and were simply curious about the commotion occurring outside .
“ At first , [ the residents ] were all scared ,” she said . “ They were seeing it on television , they were hearing it from the TV before we were able to get to them .
“ We were very conscious of keeping them informed , the communiqués I was sending out to the families twice a day were also being delivered to the residents on their meal trays .”
For the first two weeks of the outbreak , Michelle lived onsite with about 50 of her staff on an unused upper floor of the home . It was tough as her partner was stuck in Melbourne at the time and had to support her from afar . But her two adult daughters took turns to visit and bring her clothes , toiletries and food .
Before the cooked meals began coming in from other SummitCare homes , the exhausted team lived off potato chips , and chocolate .
“ You were caught in this kind of vortex for about a month ,” said Michelle .
“ We just kept focusing on the end game , frankly .”
A nurse through and through , Michelle wasn ’ t worried about catching the virus herself and as her team , with the help of NSW health , got on top of the outbreak , she felt confident in the high level of infection control they had implemented .
Speaking with Michelle in October , with the Baulkham Hills outbreak under control , she says that the last few months have been a blur .
As it stands , around one hundred per cent of SummitCare ’ s residents and staff have now received both jabs , she says .
“ I think that everyone would agree in aged care that perhaps it could have been done differently .”
“ Every year aged care providers administer their own Fluvax , usually in conjunction with their GPs and / or their own immunisers .
“ If the government had allowed this to happen with the covid jabs , then all residents and staff at each home could have received their jabs in a more costeffective and efficient manner .”
“ In the early stages , it felt a bit like a war zone .
The outbreak started in July and would last 30 days , and all of the staff and residents who tested positive have recovered .
But fears of another outbreak soon followed as a fully vaccinated nurse at the SummitCare facility in St Mary ’ s tested positive .
An infected doctor would also enter the organisation ’ s Penrith home causing panic in early September .
While no other residents have tested positive , the threat of the virus has become routine for the staff , residents and families of SummitCare .
“ The subsequent outbreaks have been more manageable because the team of course is now far more experienced than they were in July ,” says Michelle .
“ We ’ re very conscious of each other and the fact that everyone is tired . Therefore I think everyone ’ s trying to be very , very sympathetic with one another .”
Residents , no longer quarantined in their rooms , can move freely around their designated zones and [ at the time of writing ] were preparing for in-person visits as ‘ freedom day ’ approached .
“ Clearly they are missing their families ,” says Michelle .
“ We ’ ve tried to be , and continue to be , as innovative as we can in keeping them entertained and making sure that their spirits are uplifted .
“ The team are very tight , and they ’ ve become tighter as the months have gone on . “
After four years with the organisation , Michelle was recently appointed chief executive officer and co-director of Summit Healthcare .
The last three months have been testing and she admits that trying to switch off in her downtime is difficult . Watching Netflix , or reading with a glass of wine in the evening helps , as does early morning walks with her dog . But her work is always front of mind .
“ I think that the entire age care industry is running on adrenaline right now ,” she says . “ Until we can get vaccinations to the level we need them in the community , and hopefully the case numbers right down , I think everyone will feel the same way .
“ I hope by Christmas we ’ ll be there .” ■
nursingreview . com . au | 15