From Home Hospitalization Professionals

• August 10, 2020
• Eva A. Sánchez Martos
• No comments

In less than 48 hours everything changed, a parenthesis appeared in our lives and everything stopped. Meetings with friends, holiday projects, family life, everything lost importance. They changed our work schedules, changed jobs by creating a new space, left home to protect our families, and learned to work with new professionals. They did the best they could. They cared for almost 300 COVID-19 patients and 60 professionals did so with the effectiveness and efficiency we were asked for… none of us became infected.

As experienced by other HaD professionals.

The opinion of Minerva San Nicolas Pareja

At the time the state of emergency was declared, did you think you would have the opportunity to care for patients as a nurse?

Although it was a state of anxiety and confusion, the vocation made you want to help more than ever. But anonymously we have all lost our faces in front of patients but not our smiles hiding behind masks.

What was it like for you to face COVID patients?

At first it was very desperate because you didn’t know who was positive and who wasn’t. And we are still partly the same.

At home we had a few weeks of exposure to some cases in which we never knew if they were COVID or not. This made you suffer thinking you had exposed yourself and were waiting for the onset of symptoms at any time.

Were you scared of the possibility of bringing the infection to your family?

This is still worrying even though we are more open than before. For weeks now my mother has been waiting for a big hug and a kiss from me that I can’t give her for fear of getting sick. To my children occasionally, I couldn’t contain a hug from the back and couldn’t cover them with kisses. It is a daily worry for all of them when you get home and they ask you how your day went and if you were exposed or we had enough material.

Did it cost you to learn the special infection protection measures?

We learned the protection measures without problems I think most professionals. "Practice makes the teacher."

What made you more respectful, nursing duties or the possibility of becoming infected?

Neither. Nursing functions are more than integrated and I’ve really always had the chance of getting infected. In part I wished not to get infected so that they would not send me home and stop being useful and at the same time I also thought that if I had passed maybe they could guarantee me immunization in order to care for patients with closer care, without so many barriers and with contact which is what many have needed. I still hope to wake up one day with a shield of immunity but this is not possible at the moment so I will continue to protect myself so that I can be more useful to others.

Which situation, of the ones you saw, would you highlight as very hard?

I can say that I have been lucky not to see anyone lose my life even though I have lost young friends of COVID. The patients I treated this past month were more stable patients than can be cared for in the hospital.

The beginning of this whole situation was very hard for me, listening to the stories of my colleagues and especially of my manager, who told us the hardest part of living on the floor every day and that we do not need to remember again. because we can all imagine it.

Sometimes I have received messages from people close to me and not so close people asking me desperately if I could find out something about their family member because they had not known anything about it for days. As far as possible I have directed and guided them on how to obtain this information.

Also a very hard part lived directly is to see patients arrive at the Hotel Medicalizat -Verdi, where I am working, and witness how they come with the loss of their partner without being able to say goodbye. I think it’s usually the hardest part of this whole situation, losing a family member or your life partner, each in a hospital place without knowing anything about each other and without being able to watch their death. . It is a very sad way to say goodbye to your family or the love of your life.

Do you have special memories of any patients? Which one?

I have memories of many patients who repeated to me on visits that you take great care of me and that we were very valuable for the work we were doing, and especially some of them who have found me on social media and still ask me how I am and m send messages of gratitude and concern. They have all been monitoring my condition.

If this situation happens again, would you hesitate to take a step forward or would you come to help in another way?

I would definitely be available again for the place where I was located as on this occasion when we could not choose. Don't think too much about the work you are entrusted with if you don't do it and do your best to help everyone get out of this situation as best they can. Thanksgiving is priceless and is the best gift we have ever received from patients, friends, family, hotel staff, co-workers, and strangers who value our work more than ever.

 

 

Minerva San Nicolas Couple.