The article has been automatically translated into English by Google Translate from Russian and has not been edited.

'It was excruciatingly embarrassing to give up so early': the story of a nurse infected with a coronavirus

'17.04.2020'

Source: Health Mail.ru

A nurse from Spain told Health Mail.ru about how the outbreak of COVID-19 began in this country, one of the leading in the number of cases, and about our own experience in combating coronavirus infection. Further - from the first person.

Photo: Shutterstock

My name is Nuria Sanchez Vasco. I work as a nurse in the geriatrics department of a hospital in Terrace (Spain).

When the first cases of COVID-19 infection began in our hospital, we were not at all prepared for what would happen. We were told that this virus causes a disease like the flu, but with slightly more serious consequences. Later we felt what it really means.

First, we introduced new rules: reduced the number of visits to relatives - for each patient, only one family member was allowed. The doors of both wings of the hospital (8 on the left and 8 on the right) were closed so that patients on both sides had no contact with each other.

First case of infection

The first patient with fever and shortness of breath was a woman who entered the internal medicine department on the fifth floor. A week after she was diagnosed with coronavirus, she was transferred from the fifth to our floor. We complained that it could not be translated, like any other infected patient. But they did not listen to us, and patients were placed depending on the complexity of the course of their illness.

We were not given individual protection. We didn’t even have surgical masks.

We complained to management as we work with elderly patients who are at risk. And although the wings of the hospital were closed, we continued to walk along the corridors, ride in elevators, and use public transport.

The patient was isolated and transferred to another department for patients infected with COVID-19. Due to pressure and complaints from medical staff, we were finally given masks. But not with the FFP2 filter, but surgical masks, since there were apparently no others. The nightmare was about to come.

A few days later new cases appeared: a roommate of the infected patient and those who were in contact with them, including patients from another wing.

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The moment I got infected myself

At that moment, some of my colleagues and I began to experience the first symptoms.

The protocol for the staff said that if you have symptoms, you need to spend a week at home. Then he was replaced: if the unprotected health worker was in direct contact with a COVID-positive patient for a week and had no symptoms, he had to spend a week at home and monitor the symptoms. Accordingly, if they did not appear, then it was possible to return to work.

In my case, within a few days after direct contact without any protection with many infected patients, I started showing obvious symptoms: severe headache, fever, sore throat, chest pressure with shortness of breath, and severe muscle weakness. I had a PCR test. After 48 hours, I found out that he was positive.

I was ordered to sit at home, disinfect the bathroom, all surfaces, often wash my hands and wash clothes at 60 degrees. It was impossible to leave, even to throw out the trash.

12-15 days after the onset of the first symptoms, a PCR test is again performed to check whether it remains positive or not. The last test I took was negative. Now I am waiting for the results of the third test.

I was never afraid of infection, I really expected it. The first thing I experienced was a sharp sense of guilt.

It’s my fault that I didn’t know how many people I could infect involuntarily and unconsciously. It’s my fault that I gave up too soon in this fight.

I felt that I had left all my colleagues at the front. Despite the terrible state of health and weakness, with my thoughts I was always in the hospital, thinking about my colleagues and the chaos that was going on there. I felt sad, disappointed and defeated.

How the work in the hospital is arranged

Cases became more frequent. Hospital management introduced new measures, rules and protocols. Chaos and misinformation reigned everywhere. Uninfected patients in stable condition were sent home.

Morning, day and night shifts were transformed into 12-hour shifts: from 08:00 to 20:00 and from 20:00 to 8:00. Out of 12 hours, half an hour is given for “rest” - this is lunch time.

The weeks were divided into long (Monday, Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday) and short (Tuesday, Thursday and Friday). All staff alternately work in long and short weeks to take breaks.

While I'm recovering at home, my colleagues are still at the forefront. Now my entire hospital is filled with patients with a positive coronavirus test. No one is allowed inside. The staff has to choose which of the patients to save and whom to accompany during their death, because there are not enough workers for everyone. We practically lose patients every day, because they are coming to us already in critical condition.

How we prepare to receive patients

During the shift, two nurses and two nurse assistants work in each wing - they are responsible for at least 20 patients. This is a terrible burden on staff, given the complexity of patient care with COVID-19.

It is necessary to enter the hospital through the locker rooms. There we put on medical gowns and go up to our floor. The floor is divided into “clean” and “dirty” areas. In the clean area (central part) there is a lunch room and a rehabilitation room, which we use to leave personal belongings and collect the necessary material for work.

The left and right wing are a dirty zone. We also have a semi-dirty zone - these are old showers. Here we put on paper pajamas, a bathrobe, hats and aprons (in our role they are transparent garbage bags).

At lunchtime in the same place we throw out the uniform and put on a new one to go into the clean zone. We have permission to go there once during the shift, so we are given two disposable sets per shift.

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It hurts to work both physically and psychologically

Every day we are in constant stress. Working in such personal protective equipment is exhausting: it is impossible to move normally in them, because of masks itching in the throat, headache due to lack of oxygen - in fact, you breathe your own carbon dioxide. And the face is covered with abrasions.

It is difficult to work not only physically, but also psychologically. It is painful to invite a family member to say goodbye to the patient, because during the hospitalization he will no longer be able to visit.

It hurts to call relatives to report death and that they will not be able to come to say goodbye to the body. Or see patients cry because they are alone before dying.

Many of us cannot hold back our tears, but we support each other and draw strength wherever possible. We are not heroes, we are people, and we work in an area that is vital for the population. I think each of us will need psychological help after this nightmare. After what we went through, we definitely will not be the same.

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