Bearing Witness to a pandemic

Bearing witness to a pandemic BUPA | SANITAS

Love is what keeps us going

judith aguilera Head of Nursing, Intensive Care Unit Bupa Antofagasta Hospital

I am the head nurse in the critical patient unit. I have worked as a nurse for twenty-five years, all of them in intensive care at the Bupa Antofagasta Hospital. My unit is made up of three sub-units that were basically one ICU and two high dependancy units, but with Covid they were made into three intensive care units plus one high dependancy unit, and we increased our beds by 100%. We made the change beetween March and part of April, and the healthcare team were always very willing to cooperate in everything they could in terms of the pandemic. A lot of them actually helped with the changes right from the start. Although not many have got sick in the Covid team, we had to take on more people because of the changes and because of other health problems people started getting as a result of the heavy workload:

Bearing Witness to a pandemic

Articles inside

I love what I do – I always wanted to be a nurse

A time of fast learning and great camaraderie

I got Covid

Psychological support

I wouldn’t change what I went through

I volunteered to help my colleagues

I never lost my strength

I remember how lonely the patients felt

My small part in the fight against the pandemic

When you are the patient you feel vulnerable

Facing the crisis as a team

I enjoyed learning a new role during the pandemic

I was lucky to be a nurse

Mama, when is this going to end?

People were anxious when they called

When you are caring for people you don’t feel any fear

I take my hat off to my team

A traumatic night shift

We care for each patient, as if they were the only one

Today we value our team and apreciate life more

We just hoped for a miracle

Patients did not die alone

We are not heroes, we are committed professionals

Being surrounded by death makes you value life more

Unprecedented tsunami

We transform our capability to help others

Things you never forget

I kept my promise

Your mother was never alone

The hardest winter in Madrid

All he wanted was a hug