COVID-19: Interview with a Nurse

The last two months have been unprecedented. Many of us have been wearing masks and using copious amounts of hand sanitizer.  We’ve had many restaurants and bars close and forget about going to the gym. People have watched their 401k’s drop nearly 30% – or more. Kids have had to stay home from school and you can’t go to church – but, Walmart is fine. Everyone has been dealing with these issues and more – including nurses. Nurses have been dealing with all the same things as everyone else – with the additional responsibilities for people’s lives – and coming face to face with COVID-19 and the risks associated.

I was able to secure an interview with a local nurse whose name will remain confidential.  She will likely be reading the comments so feel free to express opinions and add questions.

On with the Interview:

Thank you for agreeing to do this interview and taking the time to answers a few questions.

There is a lot of attention on first responders, nurses, and doctors due to the ongoing pandemic. While the vast majority is very positive, there has been some criticism being directed at nurses. This criticism seems rooted in pictures floating around social media of nurses who appear to be “not so busy”, joking around, and not doing their jobs.

Have you seen stories related to this and what are your thoughts?

I have seen posts on social media of nurses floating by on stretchers to the theme song of the Titanic with captions that say how nurses aren’t being professional and they are not using their PPE properly or that they certainly aren’t busy. In regards to professionalism, I would have to somewhat agree as it may make people question the capabilities of those in the healthcare field when they are acting this way. On the other hand, I get that it’s a stress relief. We spend more time with our work families than our actual families at times and go through some traumatic situations that nobody else can understand so those we work with are truly a form of family and a team that will spring into action at a moment’s notice when necessary. The public has to understand that with this pandemic came major interruptions in our daily routines especially as it relates to surgical services. Fortunately, the hospital I work at decided to retain nurses and utilize them in other areas rather than laying them off.

What is the situation with PPE where you work?

The situation regarding Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) was very scary at the beginning of the pandemic. When we were told that we would have to reuse the PPE over and over again, this goes against every single thing we had learned in regards to going in and out of infectious rooms, so it was extremely upsetting. Masks that were once out in the open for use were no longer there and staff meetings focused around no hoarding or taking the PPE. Now that we are 6 weeks into our “no elective cases routine” the situation seems to be slightly better. Managers of departments have PPE under lock and key and hoard it like a mother protecting their young. So far we have not had to use an extreme amount even though we have had to do procedures on COVID-19 patients. We are also instructed to use our N-95 masks as a precaution during laparoscopic cases as the virus can be in the smoke that comes from the cautery equipment or in the gases used to inflate the abdomen.

As someone who is on the front-lines who may be exposed to the virus daily – what goes through your mind when you are getting ready for work?

It is scary going to work every day. Even though the operating room (OR) is only being used for emergencies the OR staff is being used for much more. I never know where I will be and I never know what I will be expected to do. My hospital decided to split the OR staff and put them on a 24/7 schedule. We no longer have to be on-call as there is a team that is always there which was a huge bonus to the staff who graciously agreed to rearrange their lives to accommodate this arrangement. This arrangement benefitted the staff as well as the hospital. The employees had less of a chance of being laid off and the hospital had extra staff to float to different areas. I personally have been in the emergency room screening patients and staff for COVID-19, I have cleaned lobbies, hallways, walls, locker rooms, and operating rooms, and most recently I have been sent to collect specimens from staff to test them for the virus. Some nights there was talk of going to other departments such as the ICU to help the nurses there, but fortunately, that has not been needed.

In preparation for the expected “surge” of patients, nurses were given training on ventilators and told that a team nursing approach would be taken. Me and another OR nurse were given a quick inservice on pumps, medications, and ventilators one night from an extremely intelligent ICU nurse, and as we left I remember thinking that I was a bit overwhelmed. I had experience in many departments but it had been 15 years ago and most of my experience was in the Post Anesthesia Care Unit (PACU) so I thought I could be a could help in the event I was needed but hoping I would never be left alone to care for someone in the ICU. The nurse who was with me, however, was a 30 year OR nurse who had never worked on the floor before. People assume that just because you are a nurse you know everything about everything medical and that is just not true. There are so many specialties in nursing and for her to think about the possibility of having to care for a patient outside her skill set was more than overwhelming. Nurses value our licenses and profession and want to provide the best care possible and this put us in a situation where that might not be possible.

I’m seeing more stories on nurses getting laid off due to a lack of work, yet widespread cancellations of elective surgeries have occurred.  All over the news, the importance of nurses are in headlines, while, at the same time nurses are being sent home or laid off. What is going on?

Nurses are being laid off because of the lack of surgery cases. There are many nurses involved in the process of getting a patient on the surgery schedule. PreScreening takes place to make sure a patient is healthy enough to have an elective surgery. PreOp nurses get the patients ready on the day of surgery. OR nurses are there to take the patients back and be their advocate during surgery. PACU nurses take care of the patients after surgery and get them to a room if they are spending the night or to the Out-Patient Department to get ready to go home. Without these elective cases, the rooms in the hospital that are normally filled with surgical patients are no longer full. No total knee replacements, no hip replacement patients to take care of. This means empty floors, and nurses with nobody to take care of. Right now we are there to wait in the event we are needed and to not use sacred PPE in the event we have an influx of COVID-19 patients.

What are your thoughts on how the Trump administration has reacted to this situation?

  I feel like they have done the best they can do during such an unprecedented situation. I feel like no matter what they do there will always be critics and cheerleaders. We won’t know what we should have or could have done until everything is all said and done. I know that for me personally, I do not want to have to rely on the government to take care of me and always have that in the back of my mind. Hospitals need to take responsibility as well and be prepared for such situations.

It is frustrating that organizations such as the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) now known as the Joint Commission would come into our hospitals mandating certain rules and regulations that are miraculously no longer necessary. For example, PPE being for single use only. If I were to take care of a COVID-19 patient and use my N-95 mask then go into another room to take care of another COVID-19 patient I would have been expected to change my mask, but all of a sudden it is now alright. This to me means one of two things, either it wasn’t necessary in the first place and they are making hospitals go through more PPE than needed because they are partnering with companies that make hospital supplies or they are knowingly putting healthcare providers at risk. Regardless of what the government does, hospital administrators need to assume some responsibility in making decisions and planning for the specifics in their own cities and towns.

From a preparedness perspective, what are your recommendations to readers for preparing for the next pandemic?

TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF BEFORE YOU GET SICK! I cannot express this enough! If you truly want to be prepared to take care of yourself and others there is no better prep than your health. Exercise, eat healthier, drink less alcohol, and certainly don’t smoke or vape. Exercise can just be going for a walk. JUST MOVE! Start somewhere and start now. Having comorbidities such as Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) and diabetes can complicate any additional illness. Some are born with these comorbidities but staying healthy can increase your chances of a quicker recovery in the event of an additional illness such as the flu. Make a plan of what you will do in the event there is no pharmacy open.

Secondly, I would recommend starting with the beans, bullets, and bandaids mindset. Keeping these three categories in mind will help you get started and you can prepare from there. Reach out to like-minded individuals and discuss certain scenarios to plan for.

Last question. Why did you become a nurse?

I’ve always wanted to be a nurse. When I was little I was in the hospital a lot. The nurses were there for me when my mother couldn’t be. All my other classmates were always saying they were going to be teachers – I chose nursing. I wanted a career that the job itself was active, rather than sitting at a desk. There are also so many different experiences with nursing. I’ve worked as a school nurse, in the ER, in the operating room, as well as in the recovery.

Thank you so much for doing this and thank you for all that you do. Take care and be safe!

There are so many perspectives when it comes to the COVID-19 pandemic. Facts, or what we believe to be facts seem to change and evolve daily. Misinformation – whether purposely or unintentional continues to occur. Conducting this interview provides some insight from someone with first-hand experience, rather than assumptions by some reporter or journalist.

Take care everyone and stay safe.

Rourke

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