As I sit in my car in the parking garage preparing to start my 12-hour shift at the hospital, I imagine that this is probably what it feels like every day to be a firefighter or a police officer. Because we too are running in to face the danger head-on while everyone else runs the other way.
The coronavirus numbers are again climbing and healthcare workers are going to battle every day with COVID-19.
We are almost a year into this new reality of coexisting and combating the coronavirus pandemic now, and for half of that time, the hospital has been transformed into what looks more like a scene from a sci-fi thriller. There are checkpoint stations set up at every entrance, ensuring no one has a fever, and everyone is screened about symptoms and travel before being permitted to enter the facility.
Once inside, the hallways are noticeably void of people. The usual buzz of patients and visitors has been replaced with an eerie calm and silence. It’s nothing out of the ordinary to see a colleague wearing a full-face respirator mask. The patient rooms have plastic tarps taped over the doorways with only zippered openings to get in or out. Anxiety is palpable with both patients and staff.
I’ve spent years studying, training and working in healthcare but nothing could have ever prepared me for this experience. To be completely honest, being a frontline worker during a global pandemic is scary. Really scary. The unknown is actually terrifying. No one knows yet exactly how this should be handled. Historically, healthcare successfully functions by following protocols that have been learned, written and perfected over time from experience. But none of us have ever been through anything like this so we are all acquiring new knowledge together as we go. Hospitals are trying their best to do what needs to be done, or not done, to protect all patients and workers.
Even so, it is always a worry to contract this virus or take it home to your family.
Frontline healthcare workers, such as my coworkers and I as x-ray techs, must come face-to-face with every single patient in the hospital with a cough, fever, shortness of breath and COVID-19. We don our gloves, gown, hair cover, N95 face mask and face shield, and we walk right on in with a smile on our faces because our patients need us and that’s what we are all here for and we love the job we do.
Then we go home, strip off our scrubs, shower away any remnants of the day, kiss our babies, and pray that we are doing enough to protect ourselves and them. And we will happily do it all over again the next day and the day after that until this nightmare finally comes to an end.
Sending you love and strength! As the wife of a hospitalist, I have so much respect for you all. Walking into that mess each shift has to be nerve-wracking. Thank you for all that you do.. Best wishes for a safe and healthy holiday season with your babies.