A Tale of Two Facilities : COVID-19

What a time we are in right ?! 

Sometimes it’s hard to wrap your mind around all whats going on, in addition to simply keeping up with the evolving current events. 

But this is all about COVID19. 

As a nurse, I understand why the regulations and restrictions are put in place. The need to stop the spread of this virus and maintaining the safety of staff and patients is imperative. While it is frustrating with protocols seeming to change everyday, you have to be understanding that everyone is learning and it is a fluid situation. I had to accept that patients would be upset being told something one day and something else the next , and simply educate them as best I could. 

Working on the Women’s floor during COVID was a different experience and set of frustrations from working on the COVID unit. 

Often times on the Women’s floor working with birthing mothers, an entire family of 10+ would enter a room after a birth to see the new addition to the family before COVID. Now the laboring mother is only allowed 1 support family member. I understand how upsetting that can be upsetting that can be. Mothers can’t physically be there for their daughters. Big brothers and/or sisters can’t see their new baby brother and/or sister. New dads are also forced to step up without any additional help from other mother figures. I experienced this when my sister gave birth during COVID as well. As much as I would have loved to see my new nephew in the hospital and been there to help my sister, I know everything is being done to keep everyone safe. Change is hard, but it is not bad. A while after these visitor restrictions were put in place , I would often hear parents say how they enjoyed the few days after birth alone: just them and their significant other or support person.  So many people so soon after giving birth can be overwhelming and exhausting. Instead of being able to rest or bond with your baby, a mother was often up “entertaining” while her baby was being passed from one family member to the next. The birth of a baby is such an intimate and special moment I can see how those restrictions could be a blessing in disguise. Can you ?

While we did not get very many moms with COVID being that we are a smaller hospital, when we did it was chaos. Do we separate mom and baby? Is COVID passed from mom to baby ? Can mom breastfeed ? Can the support person take care of the baby while separated ? SO MANY QUESTIONS with no real answers because it’s such a new virus. Most of the time mom and baby were separated which is difficult. Nurses had to don full PPE (face shield, face mask (N95), gown, and gloves) to take care of mom and baby. If a support person was not able to stay with the baby, 1 nurse was required to stay with the baby for the entirety of that shift. I will say it’s an easy assignment, but watching a baby eat and sleep for 12 hours is quite the bore. 

Any who, I could not imagine giving birth and not being able to see my baby for 3 days !! Your body’s  whole being wants nothing more than to be with the life you carried for 9 months. Even antepartum mothers cannot have a significant other or support person for doctors visits. Now, everyone just has to adapt to this new normal for pregnancy. 

[Sidenote: I do wonder how these babies will be impacted, if at all, by seeing impartial faces covered by masks for the early part of their life]

These experiences were unfortunate circumstances, but eventually mom would be able to take her baby home. Working on the COVID unit was not so hopeful.

Being sick and in the hospital is already trying. However, having to go through it alone is more than arduous. The uncertainty , the swift change in health status, the anxiety provoking environment, can all be overwhelming. The worst part is having to die alone and scared without loved ones present. On the nursing end, we also could not spend as much time in the rooms to decrease the risk of exposure inhibiting us from really talking with our patients. 

As difficult as its been working through this, I’d have to say I’ve had a better experience than what I am seeing being broadcasted. Thanks to an amazing director, never did we run out of PPE. Yes, we had to conserve and reuse, but thats just what had to be done. Donning so much PPE (face shield, face mask, surgical mask, gown, gloves, respirator) was intense. Never will I complain about simple contact precautions (gown & gloves only) again LOL. Dealing with your own fear became a personal task. Learning to protect yourself first when there are seconds between life and death for your patient was the most draining. Its hard, but the career I chose has always been a physically, emotionally, and mentally draining one. It seems as if COVID will be here a while, so much empathy is needed. 

I implore everyone to WEAR A DAMN MASK and practice simple hand hygiene. Don’t be so selfish as to sentence someone else to death because you are healthy. Prayers and love as we endure 2020. 

As always, KEEP IT G : God , genuine, and gangsta