Covid

I don't even remember how it all started anymore. I think it was gradual. We started hearing about the Corona Virus. No one thought much of it. We had seen various viruses and diseases before, why would this be any different.

I do remember sitting with my co-workers, laughing at how everyone was getting worked up. We made fun the general panic that ensued.

I worked in an outpatient lab, along side an urgent care, at the time. I did a little bit of everything, from registration, to blood draws, to electrocardiograms and more.

At some point we started realizing this thing might be real. We were exposed regularly to patients that could have the virus or might be contagious. We started to panic a little ourselves. My co-workers and I scrambled to find disinfectant for our homes-We would take turns going to Walmart on our breaks to look for supplies. If we found them-toilet paper, wipes, laundry soap, etc., we would buy it for the group and distribute the goods. At one point, we even had a Walmart manager hold a shipment that had just come in for us.

When I finished a shift at work, I would strip down at my front door and immediately shower. I would spray my shoes and the pile of dirty scrubs with disinfectant before bringing them into the house. I also sprayed anything I touched in the house before I had showered. I would go outside and spray down my car as well. It was an entire ritual and all of my co-workers were doing the same thing.

When I would buy groceries, I would leave them outside and spray each item with disinfectant before bringing it into my home. Looking back, it all seems ridiculous. but at the time, it was the thing to do.

At some point, we started wearing masks at work. It took a long time to adjust to that. We began requiring patients to wear masks also. That didn't exactly go over well. There would be lots of yelling, mean comments and frustration to come from both patients and staff in the next few months.

Once the cdc began updating their personal protective equipment guidelines regularly, things would change sometimes mid-shift. One day, we started the shift wearing masks and ended the day with full face shields.

The news was nothing but bad-constantly telling us numbers and how things were getting worse. Eventually we just turned off the tv at work. It wouldn't come back on for months.

Social distancing became a thing. We had to limit patients in an already small environment. This would result in more patient and staff frustration. Patients either praised us for out efforts or yelled at us for it. Some complained that Covid was a conspiracy. Considering the sacrifices we were making, these claims were upsetting, in the very least.

When everyone else stayed home, quarantining, we went to work. We didn't have many patients were a while. The days were long. Our hours got shortened at work and we no longer worked Saturdays. That was one good thing. We got signs to put in our cars saying we were essential workers. Yes, that became a thing. Essential workers. People who had to be at work regardless of the pandemic. People that were needed to keep the world going around. People who were willing to risk their own health for the benefit of others.

Work was so slow we actually bought board games one day, to keep us entertained. In some ways these quiet days were nice, but in other ways, I can't even explain how these days felt.

After a while, the virus slowed down and things began to open up again, but it was a different world now, both in an out of healthcare. Outside of work, stores still closed early and required masks and social distancing. At work the same standards applied but now, all patients having surgical procedures had to have a Covid test done before hand.

I quickly went from someone who mostly drew blood to someone who did Covid testing all day. I started referring to myself as a certified Covid tester. I also started looking for another job. I wasn't adjusting well to all the new requirements in outpatient care and I certainly didn't want to just do Covid testing all day long.

Outside of work I was getting frustrated because people weren't taking Covid seriously. They didn't want to wear masks and thought all the protocols were stupid. Little did I know just how much more frustrated I'd be with this issue, a few months later when I finally switched jobs.

I found a job that interested me in the hospital and applied. It would be a outpatient setting but with inpatient regulations. All my patients would come to me already tested and my exposure would be very limited. Also, it was close to my dream job, of working in the cath lab. The job was in the holding area for the cath lab as a technician.

Covid didn't personally affect me as much here, but I began to see a different side of the Covid story. Because our department works closely with the ICU, I knew the numbers daily of how many Covid patients we had and how many patients were currently on ventilators. When I had to go up to the ICU it was over crowded and we often didn't have beds for our patients to go to because there were too many Covid patients. I'd see them running codes up there.

My co-workers told me that at one point you could look out the window and see the funeral homes lined up outside to pick up patients. If I didn't think Covid was a big deal before, I certainly did now. It was a whole new reality. I would get even more mad now, at people's defiance towards Covid and it's restrictions.

Time went on though and soon enough we were a year and some change out from the initial chaos. The vaccine came out. Regulations lifted everywhere, but medical facilities. We no longer had to wear masks anywhere outside of work. The number of Covid cases continued to drop to almost nothing.

As healthcare workers, a lot of us started to get frustrated. We were over masking and over regulations. Especially since we worked on a unit with little possibility of exposure. Numbers started spiking again, and our leaders tightened our regulations again, including wanting us to go back to wearing goggles. I will be honest. We will wear our masks, we get that that will probably not ever go away. Goggles though-no. We mostly rejected that.

The hospital that I work for was one of the first to mandate vaccines. I have watched as we have lost tons and tons of staff over this. One of my favorite nurses that I work with decided to retire instead of getting vaccinated.

I am all for vaccinations. I am not for forcing anyone to do anything they aren't comfortable with. I won't tell you to get vaccinated. I got sick from the vaccine, as did all of my co-workers. We aren't talking just some aches and pains. We are talking full blown, we needed to be off work for three days each, sick. I won't tell anyone to do that to themselves.

I don't agree with what my hospital is doing, but I know other hospitals are following suit. It's just a s ign of the times.

I don't know what the future holds, in the medical field or otherwise. I know I have considered leaving the medical field though. I don't know what else I'd do. For now, we just hang in there and hope the world goes back to some sort of normal soon.