BHUBANESWAR: Mansi Jena and Kamalini Malick have made the SUM Covid hospital in the Capital city their home for over a year since the deadly coronavirus struck.
Since March 2020, they have neither visited their homes nor met their children and families.
There are negligible chances that they would meet them any time soon, but this no longer bothers them.
The two women, who are in charge of the entire nursing wing of the hospital, have devoted themselves to attending to the critically-ill patients at the hospital.
Mansi is a mother of an 11-year-old boy and Kamalini has two minor daughters.
When she was assigned Covid duty, Mansi left her son with her mother. Similarly, Kamalini’s husband and mother-in-law have been taking care of the two daughters - one five years of age and another 11.
Having pushed their personal lives to the backseat, they say that more than their families and children, the patients need attention and care now.
“This pandemic will end some day and we will get to meet our children then. But if our patients die, their families will never get to see them again”, says 40-year-old Mansi who joined SUM Hospital in 2006. Kamalini had joined a year before her.
Although their shifts last for 6 to 8 hours, both the nurses are present in the wards and ICU round the clock.
“Work never stops here. Patients are brought in every now and then. We have to ensure utmost care for them, from checking their oxygen saturation to monitoring their vital parameters and temperature”, says 36-year-old Kamalini who believes that patients should always be kept in a positive frame of mind which would help them heal better.
There are a mix of symptomatic and asymptomatic patients here and the only thing common in all of them is the fear of the virus.
And there are patients of all age groups in the hospital.
The task at hand, they say, is nothing new for them but the circumstances are. Covered in protective gear and face shields, Mansi and Kamalini say the gloom in seeing people struggle to breathe and lose battle to the virus is overwhelming.
Sharing one such incident, Mansi says an elderly couple with severe symptoms was admitted to a ward last week and given beds next to each other.
“On Wednesday while on my round, I noticed the man telling his wife to go back home as she was feeling better. But she refused. Hours later, we had to shift him to the ICU as his condition deteriorated. While taking him, his wife asked us if we would bring him back to the ward. I had no answers. The man died the same day and we have not informed his wife yet”, Mansi says.
Despite the extremely challenging work conditions, these women frontline workers of indomitable spirit have never thought of taking a break.
“Only six hours of sleep and a prayer to keep everyone safe are enough to recharge us. We have now adapted to this situation”, said Kamalini.
Amidst the gloom, there are moments of happiness when they speak to their children and when a patient recovers and walks out of the Covid hospital.
“I get the opportunity to video call my son twice in a day, once before my day starts and then before I go to sleep. In between, I do not get a chance to speak to him”, says Mansi, adding that her son asks her when she would return home.
Kamalini’s daughters have the same question. But the mother in her makes them realise the situation that she is currently in.
“My elder daughter on her birthday told me that she would have been happy if I was present at home that day to celebrate. But she said that she was happier realising that I am doing a service to humanity”, she says, adding that her children are getting used to her absence now.
Nurses Mansi Jena and Kamalini Malick have not met their families and children for over a year now. There is little chance that they may do so in near future, but they are not complaining despite the agony in their hearts. For them, their duty is paramount now and saving lives is more important. Diana Sahu brings out their stories