The year of the pandemic was tough on everyone, but healthcare workers felt it more than almost everyone else.
Fortunately, the situation in Estevan has never been out of control, nevertheless, local staff experienced a lot over the past 14 months. Within our special for the upcoming Nurses' Week, Mercury spoke to one of the Estevan nurses Josie Folk about how the last year has been for her and her colleagues.
"Every day is still a good day, we just have to find different means of getting through each day. Not all of it is bad. We've been pretty lucky in Estevan. And I think we're working as a team and we're pushing through and just doing whatever we can to get through this pandemic altogether," Folk said.
She's has been working at St. Joseph's Hospital for four years now, and she said that the last year was definitely very different. Even before the pandemic days were busy. It remained somewhat the same, but the highly contagious virus put a twist into nurses' routine.
"Now we do a lot of patient screening, family screening, just to make sure that we can make the appropriate accommodations to keep not only ourselves safe but to keep the rest of the hospital safe too. We're assessing different things a lot more," Folk said.
The education Folk received as well as all her previous work experience had a family-centred care approach. COVID took most of the families out of hospitals.
"It is a lot different in that sense," Folk said.
When the pandemic first hit Saskatchewan last March, no one in the world knew how to work with the virus. But since day one, the healthcare workers had to navigate through the unknown, putting their emotions aside.
"At first, it was really scary for us. Even the word COVID in our hospital. If we knew that there was a COVID patient, it would be a source of stress for everybody that's involved, every department. But now it's become something that we're a little bit more comfortable dealing with. We know what we're supposed to do and how we're supposed to keep ourselves safe. So just more extensive knowledge on our PPE (personal protective equipment). And I would say that we're a lot more diligent to try and to prevent the spread of COVID," Folk noted.
A regular workday for a nurse now looks very different from how it used to be and involves way more PPE. Folk pointed out that they've always had similar PPE available, but these days they use it more extensively.
"Typical PPE for us to walk into a COVID room would include two different types of masks, a set of goggles, a face shield, a gown, gloves, our whole bodies are covered with PPE. It almost takes away from the human aspect of care, too, because we probably look like minions walking into the patient's room," said Folk.
Whenever they leave an isolation room, they have to shut themselves off the PPE and sanitize everything that was touched to eliminate the potential of transmission of the virus. Folk pointed out that many things now take longer due to safety measures.
"I would say it's a five to 10-minute process, just getting ourselves ready to ensure that we're safe getting into the (COVID) room having all of the stuff that we need. We're usually in (patient's room) for a large amount of time. And when we leave, we have to accommodate our schedules to know that we have that extra PPE disposal time," Folk explained.
While all healthcare workers had a significant workload over the last year, Folk said they are in general trained to be prepared, which helps to get through the emergency humanity found itself in.
"You anticipate the worst, but hope for the best, even pre-pandemic, but with this, too. People are coming in a lot sicker. They're scared themselves. And we just have to put on a brave face and make sure that we can give them good quality care while also maintaining our own safety in the room," Folk said.
She added that patients have been understanding, too. She misses working more with patients and their families, but the safety needs come first during this time.
"That's difficult for nurses like ourselves who are used to having such compassionate and family-centred care," Folk said.
Folk said that she made her career choice early on in life.
"As cliché as that sounds, I always knew I wanted to be a nurse. I come from a family of healthcare workers, and that was probably the only thing that I thought was an option in my mind. I just knew I wanted to be a nurse. I knew that there was a great variety within the career," Folk said.
She added that this job has avenues to do something new every month, and she's been exploring the opportunities. She's worked in multiple departments, she went to Africa and did volunteer work in one of the city hospitals in Ghana and she's also exploring the teaching avenue as she is an instructor with the University of Saskatchewan program.
"I feel like you can always find a different passion when it comes to nursing, there's always something new that you can be doing."
The last year was tough, but even the challenges created by the pandemic didn't affect Folk's passion for the profession.
"I can still honestly say that I love my job. But I will say that my job is hard, harder than it has been.
"I have the greatest team of co-workers at St. Joseph's Hospital. We're a smaller facility, so everybody is like family. We all know each other. We know each other's personal lives. We care about each other. So I feel like the team that we have is so great that it makes every day a good day," Folk said.
She added that all the departments within the hospital have been amazing throughout this year.
"Our housekeepers need a big round of applause for all that they do. Their work will definitely have increased within the last year and those are the ones that are keeping our entire facility safe by making sure that everything is cleaned. I honestly thank the housekeepers every single shift, because they have such a heavy workload right now," Folk concluded.
