So, the Coronavirus is here.
As I write this, I am at work. (Shh! Don't rat me out.) It's been an interesting day, less-than 24 hours since my last "diary" entry....
Almost as soon as I posted the previous entry, I saw on my phone that Madera County had another case. That was mind-blowing enough, but almost immediately after that, I saw that Governor Newsom had put the entire state of California on lockdown. Hokey smokes, Bullwinkle. It took me a long, long time to fall asleep (well past 1 a.m.)...
My alarm went off at a very ugly and altogether too early 5 a.m. I got ready for work and made Shirley (the tortoise) her breakfast. I needed to leave her in the house today, because the gardener was coming. At least, that was what I had in my mind when I left the house.
There were far more cars on the road than there should have been for a state on lockdown. It occurred to me that many of the people doing their morning commute were as yet unaware of the shelter in place order. That was when I realized my mistake in regards to the tortoise. The gardener wouldn't be by. He'd be home today sheltering in. Duh.
Work is strange. Our census is way down. There are only five patients on our unit and we have three nurses covering them. I have two patients. I'm open for another. The unit as a whole is open for five or 6 patients actually. Weird.
Early today, I heard one of our unit secretary's say that there was a case of coronavirus in our oncology department, but that they had been sent home. I hadn't seen anything about it on the news and sending a cancer kid home seemed unlikely. Sometime later, I heard that there were two patients here who had been tested and sent home. Hmm. Rumors?
On the home page of our hospital's internal website, there is a video message from the hospital's president and CEO. I didn't play it (most of the computers on the floor do not have sound capabilities), but was told he was just telling everyone that plans were being made for the oncoming emergency and he wanted to thank us for our commitment to our patients, their families and the hospital.
That was unusual...but as much as I think the video was trying to be reassuring, it had the opposite effect on me. The hospital doesn't have a plan? Yet? This has been coming for quite a while. They'd taken all of the face masks away about 2 weeks ago. How could they not have a plan?
I looked in my email. I wondered if there was a follow up to that strange email about me learning to use the hospital's PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) and then training the other nurses in my area. There was only a brief email follow up saying they still did not know when the training would be. WTF? Seriously???
There was another email saying that, although we could still use them if we really, really needed them, all of the sani-wipes had been hoarded by the hospital:
Thankfully I noticed that someone in my department had the foresight to tuck some away in our treatment room:
Continue to Part 7 HERE
As I write this, I am at work. (Shh! Don't rat me out.) It's been an interesting day, less-than 24 hours since my last "diary" entry....
Almost as soon as I posted the previous entry, I saw on my phone that Madera County had another case. That was mind-blowing enough, but almost immediately after that, I saw that Governor Newsom had put the entire state of California on lockdown. Hokey smokes, Bullwinkle. It took me a long, long time to fall asleep (well past 1 a.m.)...
My alarm went off at a very ugly and altogether too early 5 a.m. I got ready for work and made Shirley (the tortoise) her breakfast. I needed to leave her in the house today, because the gardener was coming. At least, that was what I had in my mind when I left the house.
There were far more cars on the road than there should have been for a state on lockdown. It occurred to me that many of the people doing their morning commute were as yet unaware of the shelter in place order. That was when I realized my mistake in regards to the tortoise. The gardener wouldn't be by. He'd be home today sheltering in. Duh.
Work is strange. Our census is way down. There are only five patients on our unit and we have three nurses covering them. I have two patients. I'm open for another. The unit as a whole is open for five or 6 patients actually. Weird.
Early today, I heard one of our unit secretary's say that there was a case of coronavirus in our oncology department, but that they had been sent home. I hadn't seen anything about it on the news and sending a cancer kid home seemed unlikely. Sometime later, I heard that there were two patients here who had been tested and sent home. Hmm. Rumors?
On the home page of our hospital's internal website, there is a video message from the hospital's president and CEO. I didn't play it (most of the computers on the floor do not have sound capabilities), but was told he was just telling everyone that plans were being made for the oncoming emergency and he wanted to thank us for our commitment to our patients, their families and the hospital.
That was unusual...but as much as I think the video was trying to be reassuring, it had the opposite effect on me. The hospital doesn't have a plan? Yet? This has been coming for quite a while. They'd taken all of the face masks away about 2 weeks ago. How could they not have a plan?
I looked in my email. I wondered if there was a follow up to that strange email about me learning to use the hospital's PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) and then training the other nurses in my area. There was only a brief email follow up saying they still did not know when the training would be. WTF? Seriously???
There was another email saying that, although we could still use them if we really, really needed them, all of the sani-wipes had been hoarded by the hospital:
Thankfully I noticed that someone in my department had the foresight to tuck some away in our treatment room:
Nothing was said about the rumored patients here...but I noticed that several of the doctors were wearing the yellow face masks we used to have sitting out all over. What gives...and where did they get them?
Another co-worker showed me an email that stated that the National Guard is being readied to be deployed. I'm not sure if it was just in California or throughout the US.
The morning progressed. Finally I got to go to lunch. After lunch, I decided to get myself a coffee at our Starbucks. I ran into a nurse from another unit that I am casually friendly with. I wanted to ask her about the rumors of those supposed cases here in the hospital. She might know something.
She said that yesterday, she had a patient who was going to be operated on for a brain tumor. He had flu-like symptoms, but she assumed he was safe to be on the floor. A doctor pulled her aside and told her they think the patient is positive for coronavirus. She said he was moved to our ICU floor. She also said she had heard there was a second case here.
As I walked back from the coffee shop, my mom texted me a news item from a local news station. There are two confirmed cases in my town, Clovis.
I quickly texted her back and told her about the two here.
I went back to my unit and shared the news about the two in Clovis and the two here with our unit secretary and our charge nurse. The charge nurse was being a little cagey. She said that two patients had been tested, but we did not have the results yet.
No one had bothered to mention this to anyone, certainly not our fearless leader who told us what a swell job we are all doing via taped video message.
Later still, I talked to one of our CNAs (certified nursing assistants). She said she had floated to our oncology department. During the morning huddle, the charge nurse warned everyone there to steer clear of a certain room. The only one to go in or out of that room was a certain nurse. She would deal exclusively with that patient for several shifts and then would alternate with another nurse who would have that patient exclusively as well. Nothing was said about the patient's condition or why he/she needed such care.
However, later the housekeeper tried to clean the room--and was barred. It turns out, only the lead housekeepers can clean that room.
The CNA questioned this with one of the housekeepers. She wanted to know if that was standard procedure as she had been told in huddle.
"It's corona," the housekeeper told her.
The tests are still out on these kids apparently, but I know it is not the flu. Tests for Influenza A and B can be done in minutes. The Coronavirus has to be sent out and that takes several days.
It's here. What else could it be?
It was only a matter of time...
Continue to Part 7 HERE
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