TIRUCHY: After her shift ends at the isolation ward of MGMGH, Radhika (name changed) enters her house from the back door, even as her four-year-old watches her from the gate. She first takes a shower, washes the clothes that she had worn and puts them out to dry along with her purse and lunch bag.
Even after that, the 32-year-old nurse doesn't go near her children or husband. She doesn’t even touch the gate of her house after returning from work.
“There is a stay facility arranged in the hospital but I chose to come home as my son is unwell. He wants me to pick him up, but I have to say no. It’s like a dagger through my heart,” says Radhika.
Describing her first day at the isolation ward, she says she was very scared. She was afraid to go near the patients, but now it is a part of life, she says.
“I was scared for my children as they are eight and four years old. But I have to come home to take care of my kids. They can’t stay without me,” adds Radhika. She keeps telling her children to wash their hands properly.
She says that wearing PPEs for extended periods of time is exhausting, as with the weather getting hotter by the day, she sweats bucket loads into her mask. The goggles often create impressions on the face which may take weeks to go.
From taking care of patients to setting up new wards, nurses are proving that they are talented multi-taskers. Radhika is now tasked with setting up new isolation wards at different floors of the hospital. They must ensure that everything is set up perfectly and is brand new.
The recent argument between some patients and a nurse at the ward has increased the anxiety for nurses like Radhika.
“We are always very patient and kind towards our patients. Such incidents really shake you up. I felt so bad for the nurse who was there and wish it never happened to her. We will all be more careful in our interactions and maintain distance from now on,” says Radhika.