Hi I am a staff nurse, working for a central government hospital, I feel privilege to share my experiences while working with patients of corona.
Initially I was posted in Screening area for two days, in which people used to come and I was screening their symptoms! It’s really difficult or diagnose that this person is having corona or not. People may be asymptomatic and in incubation period. Chances of misdiagnosis are identified, for example a person who is having cough due to other underlying diseases may even misinterpreted as corona. Now wearing the PPE Kit and staying for continuous 12 hours night shift is a biggest challenge faced and even have to think for drinking water. Patients come out only in emergency or excessive anxiety of being infected. Many poor patients come by walk of 2-3 kilometres too, as there is no transportation facilities. In one instance, it’s sad to see a mother who brought her two sons and a daughter along with husband when her husband is having fever but no any other symptoms just to receive Tablet paracetamol and sent back home.
In one instance, an old patient came with all symptoms of cough, fever, complete disorientation and irrelevant behaviour. We had to suspect this patient and sent to isolation. The immediate next minute of shifting the patient, he developed seizures and the team had to manage him by calling medicine specialist. But later had shifted to ICU. ICU is such a place in my opinion is organized emergency room. Thanks, to his condition, he was recovered and sent home.
Now, the question came to mind and started disturbing me is how a patient can get a test in emergency when there is no testing facility available in its own setup and the result comes from designated lab center after seven days. For example, let’s assume if that patient is kept in ICU, how many others will get infected. Isn’t this time we have to think in nurse staffing ratio in ICU. Many staff were stranded at their homes and was not able to attend duty. It’s also observed that few parents voluntarily obstructed health care workers for going to duty because of stigma.
There was one more incident, when one patient is transferred from one hospital A to another hospital B for further management. Test results from Hospital A is positive and the test result from Hospital B is negative. Now, can we expect the staff in Hospital B completely safe?? It’s clearly evident all the staff who came in contact with patient have to undergo quarantine from Hospital A. It leads to shutting down of ICU for fumigation and restart the ICU with less existing staff.
Quarantine facilities are extremely satisfactory and nothing to be worried about. I was asymptomatic even after 10 days of exposure. Thanks to the mental strength and immunity. It’s always better to be positive. I had already made up my mind it’s not going to affect me as I have seen statistics of Corona and inferred only 3% mortality and 97% chances of recovery. Even though the mortality rates are as high upto 11% in some other countries.
The administration are working relentlessly to look after patients and all the staff. How much stress the administration is facing is being witnessed as so many complaints they had to handle from staff as well as patients. The administration is really too supporting and tried their maximum best to provide facilities within the existing resources.
we, as nurses work selfless despite the problems we are facing. It is observed that family members of the patient who was recovered form corona are not accepting the patient to enter home because of stigma as can be seen in the news article of image along with this article. Community preparedness and acceptance of patient to be encouraged.
Quarantine and isolation are completely different terms which general public are at confusion. They think if a staff is in quarantine, staff is positive, but actually it’s not. If administration, is able to provide a certificate of completion of quarantine and hence discharged as no symptoms found, it would really help the staff to face stigma expressed by relatives.
Finally to summarise Corona is just an another disease testing how much we can work cooperatively keeping aside our ego differences. Isn’t the team work more important now supporting each other and also patients is the only way to fight this disease.
Keep strong mentally and you can pass this situation.
