Commentary: Even if I knew a pandemic would hit, I would still choose nursing
SINGAPORE: It was January 2020, on the eve of Chinese New year and I was at the hospital finishing my shift.
I rushed off to squeeze in a haircut with my neighbourhood barber who despite having to shut early for reunion dinner, kindly agreed to cut my pilus.
Little did I know that the first COVID-19 case would attain our shores mere days later and the first locally transmitted case would follow soon later on. That would be my last haircut for months.
In a way, that incident reminds me of what nursing or in general, the healthcare sector is near – a mix of unpredictability and challenge.
But as they say in fiscal investments – the greater the risk, the higher the rewards and in my nearly ii decades as a nurse, I institute this to be truthful.
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Looking dorsum, my entry into nursing set the stage for what was to come. eighteen years ago, I was a inferior nurse, completing my diploma at Nanyang Polytechnic and just as I was entering the sector, SARS hitting.
There was no fourth dimension for leisurely training – my classmates and I were called up to the frontline and information technology was intense.
As a junior nurse, my role involved direct patient care, assessing their condition, taking blood and other samples from patients co-ordinate to tests ordered by doctors and closely monitoring patients round the clock, and other clinical tasks.
This baptism of fire meant nosotros had to go over a crippling fearfulness of a deadly diseases: Getting infected. Equally frontliners, we accept come to take the gamble and are mentally prepared – this is the call of our duty.
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What was unbearable to me so was the thought of potentially spreading the infection to my family or loved ones.
This meant, we had to make sacrifices. In 2003, when SARS hitting, my wife (who is also a nurse) and I were newly-weds and were living with my parents while nosotros waited for our flat to be completed.
Seeing how mortiferous this was, we made a swift determination to move into our dwelling that was barely furnished, to keep my parents safety and abate fears. After this we didn't see our parents for a few months and called them instead.
Merely this was a small sacrifice compared to dying patients who did not get to see their loved ones before died and this included two of our own staff who succumbed to SARS.
The other boxing we faced was the discrimination from the public. Nosotros understood this fright and uncertainty led people to avoid sitting next to u.s. on public transport or non selection united states up in taxis or ride-hailing cars.
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But for every person who does that, nosotros accept many others who rally behind u.s.a., speak up for us and cheer u.s.a. on.
One example is President Halimah Yacob who took to her social media to say the harassment and abuse of nurses and other healthcare workers was "abhorrent and unacceptable" and she asked for anybody to "respect and support our nurses and other healthcare workers who, despite facing a greater hazard of exposure to the virus, continue stoically with their piece of work to serve others."
FROM H1N1 to COVID-19
When the COVID-19 state of affairs escalated in Singapore last year, the Screening Centre, sited at the National Center for Infectious Diseases (NCID) was ready to operate inside 72 hours, after years of conscientious planning since 2016.
This fourth dimension around, I was tasked with the planning and preparation of the Screening Centre from the perspective of a nursing administrator in the infirmary.
Some examples would exist planning the clinical setup, patient and staff routes, procuring medical equipment and coordination with many other departments: The laboratory, hospitality and ecology services, porter services, and administration teams among many others for smooth operations.
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The most adrenalin pumping time was when nosotros had to get dorsum to the drawing board and work out a solution, because things are fluid and evolving in real life, real time.
For instance, when Singapore reported the outset four cases of local transmission of the coronavirus with no travel history on Feb iv 2020, this meant a modify in the definition of a doubtable instance to include those in shut contact with Chinese travelers, such as tour operators, people working in tourist hotspots and tour guides.
This created a surge in attendance at the Screening Centre from about lxx to more than 300 inside hours. We had to re-plan the segregation zones which were separated between loftier-risk and depression-risk areas.
With the influx of people coming through the Screening Centre, more space was demarcated as high-risk areas, and we brought in additional tentage to cater to increase our capacity.
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Another example was when Singapore's border restrictions for several European countries kicked in, and many of the returning students and workers were also considered suspect cases.
In the thick of the action, protocols, workflows were constantly updated, sometimes fifty-fifty past the hour. The primal was to maintain clear communications, help our staff teams conform quickly and about importantly, assure them with our presence.
These experiences take been cracking learning tools for how to plan for the next big-calibration outbreak.
LESSONS IN LEADERSHIP
I saw first-hand how this leadership rests on the idea that no one has a monopoly on what is the best thought or solution - inferior to senior staff are encouraged to come up with solutions independently when faced with unfamiliar terrain.
Eighteen months into battling this pandemic, I recall the many conversations with a multitude of colleagues, each playing a critical role and influencing the make or suspension of the mission at manus.
One text message stands out. It is from a colleague from the Department of Laboratory Medicine. Amongst the surge, I proposed some changes that could speed up specimen acceleration process then that more samples in large quantities could exist processed sooner.
This change would bear on the workflow at the laboratory which was already facing heavy workloads. In a highly tense situation, it was a lot to enquire for.
Only hours afterwards, I received a reply from proverb: "Don't worry, we are in this together and nosotros will overcome this."
This simple message speaks volumes of the trust and esprit and collective leadership. I concur information technology fifty-fifty more dear to me today because this beloved friend unfortunately passed on after an acute tour of illness, just some months prior.
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The priority of looking after our staff and establishing meaningful relationships is the key to successful pandemic operations – when nosotros look subsequently each other, we can look afterwards others.
In the 18 years I have been a nurse, I take seen SARS, Ebola, Zika, H1N1, MERS-CoV and at present COVID-19 and I am sure, at that place are others on the horizon.
Each 1 of those experiences have sharpened and deepened my skills equally a nurse only what they accept also shown me is that despite the challenges, the sacrifices and the burnout we experience when we are fighting a disease, I would choose nursing again.
To me, it is non just a job or a career. It is a life filled with meaning and worth living.
To my young man nurses, Happy Nurses Day.
Christopher Soh is Banana Director of Nursing, Emergency Department at the Tan Tock Seng Hospital.
Source: https://cnalifestyle.channelnewsasia.com/commentary/commentary-even-if-i-knew-pandemic-would-hit-i-would-still-choose-nursing-283916
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