Hello everyone! I am an emergency nurse here in the Philippines.
I've been registered as a licensed nurse since 2015. I've been working on a tertiary public hospital since then.
Btw, if you happened to stumble upon this article and find it interesting, please consider liking and subscribing. That will be a huge boost for me to continue writing.
My Life as a Nurse: Covid19
Even before this pandemic breaks out, i've encountered so many difficulties in our line of work. The overwhelming numbers of patients, lack of manpower, deficient infrastructures, lack of equipments and many more.
On march 7, 2020, the first case of covid19 local transmission was confirmed in the Philippines.
After hearing the news, me and my other colleagues began to worried. Is our hospital prepared? Are the government prepared? Are we prepared? Those questions began to arise.
All hospitals and the government began preparing for a battle to an enemy that we can't see. We began wearing personal protective equipments when handling patients. Physical barriers were installed. Wearing mask and social distancing signs are placed in every corner of the hospitals.
Our 8 hours shifts then turned into 12 hours shifts. When we say we are exhausted, you should believe it. Imagine wearing a full body suit protective equipments for 12 hours. It is very uncomfortable and hot. Sweats dripping, under clothes are soaked but we can't changed until the shift is done because we are saving the small amount of ppe's.
On May 15, 2020, out first confirmed case in our own hospital. Many employees have been frightened that they ended giving up their jobs. I became afraid too, but i can't afford to lose my job. How can i feed my wife and daughter if i resigned?
Guidelines were sent by the Department of Health to serve us to identify person who will be tagged as covid19 suspects. If one of the commmon symptoms of covid19 is present in a patient and he/she came from a place with covid19, you will be automatically tagged as covid19 suspect and will be quarantined.
Covid19 symptoms are cough, cold, sore throat, shortness of breath and muscle aches.
I started living until now in a shelter provided by the hospital to prevent me from carrying back home the virus if i get infected by one. For almost 7 months, I can't even hug my wife and daughter. I still visited them once a month but i can't approach them. Imagine the pain i am feeling everytime that my daughter was calling me and all i can do is wave at her.
Days passed, the number of covid19 is growing more and more. Our hospital now is being overwhelmed. Hospital beds are fully occupied.
One time, there was a covid19 positive that came into our hospital and demanding to be admitted. But there is no available room. He got angry with us and started saying things like we are useless. Why is this? Do we deserve to shouted? Are we the one to blame if there is no vacancy?
Our hospital is the center for covid19 referrals in the whole province. So being fully occupied is not a question. So please bear with us. A little understanding is all we want.
When will this pandemic end? Oh please, I wanna go home. I want to hug and kiss my wife and daughter.
We need your help. We are here still fighting. Please practice proper hygiene and social distancing. Don't go out of your house if its not that important.
This is not an article just to rant of how we are not compensated well or how we are exhausted. This is an article to show our dedication in our work. We are still humans, we have our emotions. Just a little bit of appreciation is enough and sympathy is all we need.
To my fellow nurse,
"While we may not receive rewards, we are our patients' heroes, that makes us a hero in our nation".
I salute all of us!
Thank you for your hardwork