As a nursing assistant at Ballad Health’s Holston Valley Medical Center, I have worked with patients going through some of the roughest times in their lives. I have worked at the hospital for the past two years. I enjoy my job, and I love my coworkers dearly. We have a great family-like dynamic and have each other’s backs even when the going gets tough.
While most people are encouraged to work from home during this quarantine time, those of us in healthcare do not have that luxury. Personally, I am not necessarily “scared” of the COVID-19 virus harming me, but as a healthcare worker I need to be more cautious than most because I could possibly carry it home to others.
People who work in healthcare all across the globe go in to work each day not knowing if they will come into contact with a person who has the virus. One-on-one patient care is not practical to us in the Tri-Cities at this time. The closest thing we have to it is the one-to-two or one-to-three care that ICU patients receive. Non-emergent surgeries have been cancelled for the time being in order to keep open beds in case we need them, and for the safety of the patients who would have been made more susceptible to the disease should they have undergone a procedure.
We are taking every precaution that we can to be safe for our patients and ourselves, performing proper hand washing and bleaching surfaces down up to three times per day. We do our best to be sure that each patient gets a shower or a sponge bath using an antibacterial soap called chlorhexidine gluconate or CHG for short.
We have restricted visitors coming to the hospital in hopes of keeping things clean and not spreading the sickness. We wear masks when we interact with any patient in case one of them has it undetected. We do not want to spread it to all the others.
Also, check in on your folks! Just because we shouldn’t visit people in person doesn’t mean we can’t call or FaceTime. We need each other now more than ever. Just a simple phone call can make someone’s day. Everybody be safe, and wash your hands!
