As you all know, I am a nurse and, unlike some of you folks, we are not yet COVID free. I am fortunate enough to be working in an aged care setting rather than battling COVID 19 on the hospital- which people believe is the only front line.This is our story for the past few months.
One of the things that my company imposed even before the lock down became mandatory was that, no visitors was allowed in our facilities- that was 3-4 months ago.That is to avoid anyone from carrying the deadly thing inside. DISCLAIMER: we're not saying that all the visitors have COVID 19. We just want to make sure that the people we care for are safe- nothing personal there.
But this had tremendous effect on them. Some of the residents felt that they had been abandoned. Though they still get to talk to them through phone and video calls, receive their care packages and read their mails, having their family and friends over to visit them is different. I can relate to that. Talking to someone over the phone is different from seeing them, touching them,hugging them, having tea/ meal with them- even if that visit is only for an hour or so.
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I did had my fair share of making sure they do not feel lonely, alone or abandoned. I must have made 3-4 calls- minimum per shift to families and relatives asking them, sometimes even begging them to talk to their family over the phone. Thank god, most of them are really accommodating and are even grateful and glad to speak to them.
The facility organized a lot of activities for everyone- well, more activities actually.
We organized window visits- wherein family and friends can "visit" anyone-it looks more or less like this.
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I know. The first time I saw someone being visited like this, I just cried. It does not help that our residents kept reaching out over the glass- attempting probably to touch their family at the other side.
Old people are very vulnerable group. Old age aside, most of them have a lot of comorbidities. Some have cardiac diseases, bowel diseases, musculoskeletal related problems, kidney diseases- to name a few.
Most have dementia, alzheimer's or stroke and if you think wearing a mask and self isolating or going into mandatory quarantine is hard, try doing that to these people.
We understand how the bug works and though we have no cure yet- we wanted to give the maximum precaution we could possibly provide to keep this thing away.
Its harder to nurse people in this group. There are simply a lot of things going on.
Life as a staff in an aged care facility is no easy walk in the park. We were asked to do a lot of trainings/ seminars. Demonstrate what we learned, be drilled- when we least expect it, attend more trainings and seminars, get drilled, and attend some more.
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You get the picture. Its hard.
We were asked to have flu shots- which is reasonable. Have temperature checks and sign in a declaration that we were not in contact with anyone from abroad in the past 14 days.
That declaration thing changed the past few weeks to include people who came from Victoria and NSW.
Hand washing and sanitizing became a new "it" in our facility. Everyone is just obsessed with hand hygiene and hand washing. Everything gets wiped up with disinfectants. Trivial things gets wiped/ sprayed with disinfectants( TRANSLATION:ANYTHING YOU CAN THINK UNDER THE SUN GETS DISINFECTED EVEN IF ITS JUST A ROCK INNOCENTLY SITTING IN OUR GARDEN!)
Anyone who gets sick or has flu like symptoms needed to visit a doctor and gets swabbed. You have to go on a mandatory leave for 14 day and before going back to work, you needed to have a doctor's certificate stating that you are fit to work.
I am no stranger to this- last February, I had a sorethroat for a day. The next thing I know, I am booking a trip to the GP. It turned out well.
We did our own personal sacrifices. Sacrifices which were often overlooked by a lot of people- thinking that they are the only ones who have to make adjustments. I have to limit the places I go. That included supermarket , home and work. When I have to use the public transport, I have to sit at the back of the bus and be very hypervigilant to anyone who clears their throat, coughs, sneezes or who look plainly sick. Anytime such a thing happens, I often have the idea of getting off on the next stop- which is not practical but, anything to keep the bug at bay.
When I go shopping in the supermarket, its either on a very early or very late moments- which is not good because, we had toilet paper roll madness then. When I see anyone in an aisle, I would often focus on them rather than what I wanted to buy to make sure that they are not sick- copy/ paste folks!
I shopped more often online- which is very detrimental to my bank account!
I suddenly became obsessed with face masks, hand sanitizers, disinfectants and what am I supposed to do in case someone I cared for have COVID 19.
Though our country is still riddled with COVID 19, I believe that we are doing very well. We simply adapted all the changes they made that it became a part of our routine. We are still very cautious and, I have not attended any social gatherings yet( I have to celebrate my birthday with only 6 people in attendance). I still- like most of the registered staff needed to attend, do a demonstration/ return demonstration, be drilled continously on the things we needed to do when we have a case.
I am still obsessed with hand sanitizers, face masks, vitamins and using disinfectants. I am still very busy. Life became home, work, supermarket- which is something I thought I cannot survive.
But here I am- telling you my story.
I do miss my pre COVID 19 life- where I can go wherever I go, attend, eat, watch- do all the fun things people my age are suppose to be doing. But life changed dramatically these past few months. I am grateful that my family and I are alive and safe. I am grateful to have an earning job. I am simply grateful that even when life took a turn, I adapted. I survived.
