Work and Covid

First - my Dad does have covid.  He's doing ok and I check him at least daily by phone. Prayers for his recovery are very appreciated!

 Several of you have asked how things are going at work with Covid.

The good news is that although we have had staff test positive, we have had no residents with covid.  Our corporation will not let anyone with active covid be admitted, so I'm thankful for that.  We have had a few admit to rehab following a bad case. They no longer have covid, but are recuperating from the results.  They have feeding tubes, have been on a vent and are very debilatated.  It's wonderful to see them recuperate, get rid of tubes and be able to get around again.  One is going home on Wednesday, so it will be a happy Thanksgiving for her family!

Like health care workers all over the country, we are tired. There is so much extra work that goes with this, and the chronic shortage of staff is even worse.  Every time someone has symptoms, they are unable to work, even if they test negative.  Others have been in contact with someone and can't work because of that.  I am supposed to work about 34 hours a week, last week it was 48.  There is the feeling that you will never get done what you are supposed to do, because more keeps getting added.

Here I am, in my office.  I'm lucky to be in an office, because I can remove the goggles, the mask and the gown in there.  The nurses and aides on the floor have to wear this stuff all the time, and their work is quite physical, so it's hot wearing this.  And it's just hard - you can't see clearly through the goggles, people can't hear you, things sound muffled.  Also - as of Monday, we now have to wear  an N95 mask all the time.  The mask I'm wearing in this photo is so much easier to wear and breath in. The N95 is very tight, hot and causes many people to have skin breakdown where it hits the face.   Many of our residents are scared of this look, they are also sad because they can't see their family.  It's a hard time, and we never thought this would still be happening so many months after it started.

This is my portable Fit testing station.  I got to work last Monday and was told that I had to fit test all employees for N95 masks by Thursday.  Up till now, we could wear the dispoable masks, but with the latest surge, we are being required to wear the N95s and there is a procedure that needs to be gone through to ensure that the mask fits properly to protect the wearer.

This hood goes over the head, and a bitter scent is instilled via something that aerosols it.  Once I know they can smell or taste it, we fit the mask, then go through a series of motions to ensure the mask stays tight and they don't smell anything.

I did about 80 of them last week.  I just need a few people who work on call to come in for testing and I can cross that off the list.  Of course, doing all this got me behind in other places.  

So - that's what things are looking like for us, it seems to be one step forward, 2 back.

However - one other piece of exciting news for us, was that our little facility was listed in US News and World report as one of the 50 best Rehab facilities in the United States!  We aren't sure how we even got noticed, but it made us all happy!