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Jersey has joined the rest of the world in applauding the work of health staff and carers from their doorsteps, gardens and out of windows, but what is a day in the life of one of these workers actually like?
Perhaps one of the few positives to come out of the pandemic is this outpouring of appreciation for those on the ‘frontline’.
This month’s special online-only edition of Connect magazine hopes to personalise this support by introducing readers to some of the faces on the frontline, clocking in every day of lockdown to see Jersey through the current health crisis.
Pictured: The contents and cover of this month's Connect celebrate the frontline staff.
In a new series ‘Meet the frontline’, Express asks the same questions to a number of different ‘frontliners’ about their experiences in the midst of this health crisis.
Having already heard from a re-deployed GP and a teacher working from home, today introduces Critical Care Manager Sam North whose experiences arguably couldn’t get closer to the heart of the virus emergency...
Within my role as Critical Care Manager my working day starts at 08:00 when I attend the Critical Care Command and Control meeting. The first half of the meeting is the operational running of the day - we look at our patients’ needs, how many staff we require, any additional support we may need, issues with consumables and staff welfare. The second half of the meeting is multi-disciplinary and incorporates doctors, nurses, pharmacists, physios and we now link in remotely with dieticians. Here we discuss the patients in more detail, before going down into the unit to don our PPE and enter the hot zone: the area where we care for patients with either confirmed or suspected covid-19.
Following on from the meeting my role along with some other colleagues is to ensure that the PPE is ordered for the next 24 hours. The new PPE ordering system is excellent and the team behind it ensure we are safely equipped when in the hot zone.
Pictured: Sam says the Government's new PPE ordering system is "excellent."
Staffing and staff welfare is a massive part of my role. We have dedicated psychology support in place, and this has been invaluable. We are all working in different ways and whilst we are prepared each day another challenge comes our way which moves us out of our comfort zone. With the techniques learnt from the wellness team, I as manager am able to rationalise this as an extraordinary situation and one that I am not alone in. With this in mind the challenges are undertaken with positivity and a can-do attitude.
I attend the 12:00 ‘bronze’ meeting which allows us as clinicians and clinical managers to hear what the senior management team are undertaking. This meeting is both information- giving and problem-solving. We are encouraged to voice our opinions and ask questions.
As the ICU manager, I am problem solving all day - be that PPE queries, equipment and consumables issues, staffing challenges or relatives and patients concerns/issues. As a manager I am not directly caring for the patients, but as an ICU nurse of 13 years’ experience I am able to understand the concerns of both my staff, patients and relatives and feel equipped to help them through this time.
There is no one day that is the same and each day I learn something new!
My abiding image has been an image from afar but a really important one. Unfortunately, patients will succumb to this disease, but the role of the healthcare professional has never been so important. A colleague of mine held the hand of a dying patient, which is not something unusual; however, given that no relatives were able to visit, this was especially important.
Pictured: "During covid-19 we can never underestimate the power of the human touch and compassion."
As nurses, death and dying is something we never get used to, but during covid-19 we can never underestimate the power of the human touch and compassion. I hope this family take comfort in knowing their loved one was not alone and was very much cared for throughout. Last week, the guidance on visitors was updated, and so patients receiving end-of-life care can now have a family member with them.
I look around, see the staff working to the best of their abilities in a difficult situation and see what we have achieved in a short space of time. The planning that has gone into keeping our Island safe is phenomenal. I couldn’t be prouder of everyone’s efforts.
As a manager it’s sometimes difficult to offload, however I have my small set of ‘go to’ people who I know will always keep me going with chats, coffee and chocolate both in and out of work - so to them, ‘thank you - you’re ace!’
I think this crisis will change the way that we value healthcare staff. The world we are currently living in has demonstrated that without the cleaners, porters, nurses and all the other healthcare team, we really would not be able to face the potential scale of covid-19 in the same way.
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