Two months into Ohio's stay at home order and things are starting to reopen. Now, working from home seems normal, but the school year is ending, and everyone is starting to speculate what the next couple of months will look like. I feel like no matter who I'm talking to, we're always talking about how different life is now, and how safe even starting to go back to normal is. Then, I saw tweets from one of my healthcare worker friends about how work has been for them, and I realized that I had a fantastic opportunity to share their story, and get some answers that I wanted about the situation.
What is your job title and how long have you worked there?
I'm a patient care aide, which means that all the work I do, a nurse can do, but it's less specialized tasks, so the nurse can focus on assessments and giving out medications. I've been working here for seven months and thought I had seen in all before COVID-19.
What department do you work in?
I work in the float pool, and I work throughout the entire hospital. I go somewhere new basically every day, but there are some that I'm in the most. Before COVID-19, my main patient population was people who were in danger of hurting themselves, or others because I often worked as a sitter. I have worked in every unit except for labor and delivery.
What is your hospital's procedure in regard to COVID-19 patient care?
There is a special placard outside the door specific to COVID-19 patients and they're separated by floor as much as possible. When we're in the room we wear an N-95, I put a procedure mask on top of that — goggles, isolation gown, and gloves. It's the same procedure as other infectious diseases but this is different because everyone on the floor has it versus tuberculosis (TB), where normally one or two TB cases, this is more like 5-10 TB cases at the same time. Putting on and taking off the protective gear takes up a lot of time, and the hospital doesn't want you spending a lot of time in there, even with the gear because you're putting yourself at risk.
What is the protocol if you (or another healthcare worker) shows sings of infection?
We're screened every day that we're supposed to report to work. They prefer that we self-report temperatures, but they also do it at the door. If we show any symptoms, we're supposed to call in sick, and there's a hotline we have to call to determine if we get tested or not. I had a scare related to wearing PPE for 12 hours, where I had a headache and I thought I had COVID-19, but then it turned into a migraine and it was the worst migraine ever, but I was relieved that I didn't have it. They also track your patients and if they test positive to assess your risk, and if you've been exposed, you monitor yourself even more closely.
Do you have enough PPE?
It depends on who you ask and where you are in the hospital. On the COVID-19 units, I've never felt like there was a lack of PPE. But in non-COVID units, it seems like there isn't enough.
What is the biggest change your day-to-day has faced because of COVID-19?
At work, I'm used to unpredictability but it's increased so much. In the float pool, you're used to going to new places, but I have been asked to do stuff that I have never done before. I thought that I had seen most everything, and then without warning, they put student workers into the correctional unit. The demographics of the patients are different from what I'm used to because a huge portion of the COVID-19 patients in Ohio are prisoners, and that's been hard to adjust to. Another big this is that Environmental Services doesn't want to go into rooms, rightfully so, because they receive the least PPE. But it was hard to even get them to take all of the trash that we collected. Now we're doing multiple jobs that used to have different people assigned to them, like Environmental Services and Nutrition. They've cut a lot of staff and a lot of hours. I've even had my hours cut when I'm an essential employee.
Describe your hospital's atmosphere.
It depends on the unit. When I was working on the swab station, it was friendly and teamwork. I think that teamwork between medical staff is up, which is good, but there is that underlying increased stress and unpredictability. When you go to really stressful floors, you will see people working together really well, but it's that same vibe all around the hospital.
How do you feel about the national news coverage of COVID-19?
I haven't looked at national news a whole lot, but I see most of it at work, where patients will have it turned to Fox, and I can't watch it. What things people chose to cover is weird. Science reporting issues are the same as they've been for a while, it's just more amplified, where they're focusing on weird studies. The two weirdest ones for me were hydroxychloroquine and estrogen as being cures. Estrogen doesn't help, men are more likely to have underlying conditions, and the study that it's based on is not strong at all. Hydroxychloroquine is similar, where you're giving an anti-parasitic drug to fight a virus instead of one of the many antivirals.
What is one thing you wish you could tell the country about COVID-19?
You need to take this seriously. Since Ohio's outbreak has been limited to the correctional facilities, it seems like the general population doesn't care. Just because you aren't high risk doesn't mean you're immune. It's frustrating to see people not following the guidelines, especially around masks. Just catching it, is something you don't want to risk, even if you're young and healthy. There's a weird disconnect. Staying at home sucks for everyone, but you also don't want to know what it's like for those who can't stay home.
How is your personal life impacted by COVID-19?
I think it's been impacted in every way possible. I haven't seen my family in three months and now I'm quarantining alone because my partner got sent to Arkansas to decontaminate masks. It's hard to relate to other people because my day-to-day is so different than everyone else I know. It's hard to tell people about the things that I've seen because it's disturbing and you don't want to put that on anyone else. As a student, my clinical got canceled and all classes are online.
Are there any stories of hope that you can share with us?
What has helped me out the most is seeing how everyone else is helping each other out right now. There is a higher hospital camaraderie and better teamwork and that's heartwarming to me. If we continue social distancing, that's what gives me hope. So much of how this turns out is dependant on the actions of individuals, as a group.
What advice can you give us for staying as healthy as possible?
As someone who received a degree in Public Health: wash your hands, don't touch your face in public, and wear a mask — preferably a cloth mask with multiple layers. If you need help, get in contact with mutual aid organizations. Stay at home as much as possible, stay inside as much as possible, and away from other people. Don't throw house parties, for the love of God. And on top of that, take care of your mental health.
What can citizens in your area do to hep healthcare workers fight COVID-19?
Stop throwing house parties (@ the OSU students still living in Columbus). Keeping yourselves healthy and safe is the most important thing you can do. More than any free food or PPE donation, keeping safe is most important. Everyone wants to do something to help, but just by staying home, you ARE doing something. We're already starting to see "normal" accident and emergency stuff, like car accidents, come back into the hospital again.
What are your thoughts about the state opening back up?
It worries me to see things start to reopen. Restaurants and hair salons staying closed is a good thing. Since Dr. Acton and Governor DeWine did such a good job of keeping the general public safe, they're getting a lot of hate for keeping things closed. There was a second wave of the 1918 flu, and some people are going to learn history the hard way. The most concerning thing is that people are getting kicked off unemployment because we have to have a way to incentivize people to stay home, even when Ohio opens up again.
