“Stay at home” is the message we hear daily, but it resonates even more urgently when you find out your daughter-in-law, an acute care nurse, has been called to work on the COVID-19 ward in her hospital.
We are so proud of her for stepping up to answer the call, but we’re also terribly afraid. We fear for her, we fear for our son and we fear for our granddaughter. We know she’s a professional and will take all the necessary precautions, but we also know even that doesn’t always stop a tragedy.
To minimize the risk of her passing anything to her family or her family passing anything to her, and her bringing it into the hospital, she and our son have rented her an apartment close to her hospital -- on their own dime, by the way. She will be sequestered from her family for what may be months. Our son and granddaughter deliver her food and other supplies, while maintaining the mandated physical distance.
She lamented that the last time she hugged someone was on Mar. 20. Recently, our son and granddaughter delivered their two much-loved cats to her to keep her company while away from her family.
Our daughter-in-law tells us how it all feels from her vantage point in this fight. As an acute care nurse, she sees people getting very sick and, in some cases, dying from the virus. It takes a toll.
It is also emotionally challenging for her and her colleagues to not rush in to help their patients as they struggle for a breath, but, instead, take the time to put on personal protective equipment. It is so counterintuitive to their training, but these front line folks have to protect themselves so they can continue to do their jobs.
There have been incidents of people stealing masks and gloves from hospitals, and we’ve all heard the reports of people hoarding those critically important protective products. Our dear daughter-in-law recognizes this behaviour comes from a place of fear. Her request to those who have supplies of hospital-grade masks in their home is to drop them off at a local hospital.
And while a crisis can bring out the worst, it can also bring out the best. It’s nice to hear of hospitals receiving many masks, gloves and baby monitors (to help keep eyes and ears on patients in isolation rooms.)
Our daughter-in-law is so happy to be helping out in this pandemic and is very grateful to be a health care provider in Canada!
A local doctor rephrased the position of health care providers dealing with COVID-19. He reminded people that health care providers are not the frontline – our communities are the frontline. Our daughter-in-law promotes this message through social media to remind people to stay healthy and reduce the number of cases by staying home.
She and her colleagues feel the love of the public. She asks that we keep their spirits boosted with the 7 p.m. noisy celebrations in our communities.
We are finding ways to connect with her, our family and friends through phone calls, FaceTime and even gardening! Our son joined us to work in the Paulik Park gardens, while maintaining our appropriate physical distance. It was hard not to give him a huge hug, but his presence certainly improved our spirits.
So, please, stay home so all of those who work in COVID-19 hospital wards can return home to their loved ones.
