NURSING INSIDE A
COVID WARD
I
The first COVID ward in St James’s Hospital in Dublin hospital opened on Private 2 in March of last year. Overnight, Private 2 changed from a busy surgical ward to a COVID ward.
n these early days, the Private 2 nursing team, which includes healthcare assistants (HCA) colleagues, became the first group of staff to look after COVID patients in the hospital. At a time when so much was unknown, the nursing team set a high standard in providing care to COVID patients which has been delivered consistently throughout the pandemic. As we gradually emerge from the COVID pandemic, Bernie Waterhouse and Tony Galvin, both Clinical Nurses Managers (CNMs) on Bennett’s ward, reflect on their experiences over the last year having moved into Private 2 in April 2020 and November 2020 respectively. At the beginning of the pandemic, there was much anxiety around the transmission of COVID from all staff and these anxieties were heightened by the lack of available PPE and uncertainty over its effectiveness in protecting staff from the virus. In these early days, staff were limited to 15-minute exposure time to patients due to the risk of contracting COVID -19 from a patient who had tested positive. In the first few weeks of the pandemic, many nursing staff contracted COVID. Some of these nurses remain unable to work to date due to long COVID symptoms. Staff felt very isolated in the first wave, from home and work life, and from the wider campus. Sometimes we called this “the COVID bubble”. We missed the more sociable nature of a regular ward with greater numbers of staff coming and going. Out of necessity, the first wave saw many “remote patient reviews”, as staff limited their exposure to the COVID area. As time passed and infection control procedures progressed, greater numbers of staff came to the COVID ward in person. We were grateful for this on behalf of the patients but also felt less alone ourselves. Two staff nurses took over leading the Private 2 nursing team at this time, Joji Paul and Melissa O’Brien; who lead a fantastic nursing team providing high-quality care to COVID patients when so much was unknown, and when there were no established care pathways for these patients. Many staff found working on a COVID ward both mentally and physically challenging. Once we entered the second wave in OctoberNovember 2020, Private 2 staff asked for a rotation out of COVID. Bennett’s ward staff volunteered to rotate into Private 2 from a surgical ward to a COVID ward in November. The team was excited for the challenge and the new learning opportunities this would bring to our team. Everyone was keen to learn a new way of nursing throughout a pandemic.
“We are proud to have provided high quality nursing care to COVID patients. It has been a privilege to look after COVID patients and their families, throughout this pandemic. They have taught us so much.” NURSING STAFF
22 | HEALTH MATTERS AUTUMN 2021
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