Our local healthcare workers are essential and indispensable
Tue, 04/14/2020 - 9:00am
admin
We have a lot of essential workers around the area, including many local nurses and healthcare workers. While they attempt to help everyone else, they continue to put themselves at risk every day, while doing their part to make sure our hospitals, clinics and nursing homes continue to function during this coronavirus pandemic.
Many jobs simply can’t be done from the safety of one’s home. So many of our local residents are deemed essential: law enforcement, grocery/restaurant service, mail/package delivery, caretakers, farmers, manufacturers, to name a few, and they ALL deserve recognition. But this week, we’re taking a look specifically at some of our local medical professionals whose roles on the frontline are essential and indispensable. The following interviews were conducted to bring you an inside look, and to give you an idea of what some of our healthcare workers are going through during these challenging times.
Molly Holthusen, of Grygla
Place of employment: Sanford Health, Thief River Falls
Job title and department: Home Dialysis RN
What are you work hours/shifts right now? My office hours are 9:00am-4:30pm, Monday-Friday. However, I work outside of these hours depending on patient needs/situations that occur or for training, etc.
Have your hours stayed the same as before or have they changed amidst all of this? I try to keep these hours as much as possible. My hours have changed some of the time as I have been able to work remote or I can adjust my schedule depending on patient needs. As things come up throughout the week, I go into the dialysis center to meet with patients or their homes so that they do not have to come in. If I go to their homes, I take precautions such as frequent hand hygiene, masking, gloves, and limiting unnecessary physical contact.
As someone on the frontlines, can you talk a little bit about your current work situation? Our workload has slowed down in some regards since we have been able to evaluate/communicate more with patients through technology such as E Visits or emails and phone calls vs. face to face visits. I have worked in other clinics such as Fargo, Bemidji, or DL when they need an extra nurse, but travel in between units has been restricted for now, or only if absolutely necessary.
As far as new patients that need to start home dialysis, it is “business as usual” since dialysis is a life sustaining treatment.
We have been taking precautions such as frequent handwashing/hand sanitizing, wearing masks all the time, limiting unnecessary contact, restricting visitors etc. Sanford is also requiring that every employee’s temperature is taken when they arrive for work. If it’s over a certain degree, they cannot work. They also have updated our contact information, asked for our work history in case we can work in other areas if needed, and asked if staff would be willing to take on other duties if needed.
Personally and/or professionally, what are your worries as a healthcare worker right now? I do worry about myself and family being exposed. I do, however, try to remain positive and am thankful my family is relatively healthy. I also have been trying to be as careful as possible when I get home. I do worry about exposing our patients as they are an at-risk community. Many are elderly or have other underlying health issues (transplant history, cancer, diabetes, autoimmune disorders, etc) in addition to kidney failure. However, the patients I work with in the home program are trained to do dialysis in the home setting, therefore, we are trying to limit our contact to only what is necessary to make sure they are still being taken care of properly.
I worry mainly about being exposed and unknowingly exposing others. I worry about having to be away from my family if I was exposed or had the virus, or if my little girls were hospitalized for it, would I be able to see them? I also worry about my coworkers and our patients and all the “what if” situations that you hope never happen. I worry about my friends and family members.
What inspires/motivates you amidst all this when you think of your role in healthcare? What inspires me to keep going is the relationships that we have with our patients. We are really lucky to get to know them on a personal level as we see them often. They are worried and scared too, therefore, I feel that it is really important to treat others the way we would want to be treated. What would happen to them if they were not able to get dialysis? It would be a very sad outcome. We all really are intertwined somehow together in this and the actions we take now may seem inconvenient, tiring, boring, but to a lot of people, it could mean the world. We have to remember that.
Rozlynn Johnsrud, of Goodridge
Place of employment: Sanford Behavioral Health, Thief River Falls
Job title and department: Nurse Practitioner, Psychiatry
What are you work hours/shifts right now? Monday-Friday, 8am-5pm, Outpatient “clinic” visits. I also take “calls” approximately 5 days a month for psychiatric consults needed in the ER/hospital. One weekend a month I am responsible for daily psychiatric rounds at the psychiatric hospital at Sanford TRF; my weekend for April was Easter weekend. Sanford Thief River Falls has a 16-bed inpatient Psychiatric hospital that provides care to patients across the state. It’s not unusual to have patients transferred to our unit from 5 plus hours away.
Have your hours stayed the same as before or have they changed amidst all of this? My schedule has remained the same during COVID-19, and I don’t foresee any changes. Work has also remained the same. I’m still seeing patients in the clinic, although Sanford has initiated video visits and verbal visits (over the phone) to patients who prefer not to come in. Verbal visits are last resorts as we prefer to see our patients face to face for a more thorough assessment. But having options has been essential in continuing to support and treat our patients in a time of uncertainty.
As someone on the frontlines, can you talk a little bit about your current work situation? If our patients choose to be seen in the clinic, they are screened by nursing upon entering the building. This process started a few weeks back. As COVID-19 has progressed, policies have been changing daily! All staff at Sanford Behavioral Health now enter the building through the same entrance and are screened upon arriving, as well. We have to sign in, have our temp taken, and a sticker put on our badge indicating we were screened and do not have a temp over 100.6. If our temp is over 100.6, back home you go to contact the COVID-19 line. After screened, to work you go, that is, after you wash your hands and don your mask. All nurses and providers that have contact with patients for more than 15 minutes have to wear a mask at ALL times they are in the building, regardless if they are seeing a patient face to face, by video or over the phone. So yes, several times a day, I am alone in my office with the door shut, doing a video visit with a mask on. (My mask is pink and orange on the inside from all my makeup. After a few days, I got smart and decided I didn’t need lipstick with a mask on…..HA!) I have a new appreciation for surgeons and surgical nurses.
Personally and/or professionally, what are your worries as a healthcare worker right now? My days are busy with patients both in the clinic and in the hospital. If we didn’t have options to see them by other means, such as video visits/phone visits, I fear our patients wouldn’t be coming in and could end up in crisis. I feel very fortunate to work for a medical system who was proactive in setting these processes up.
What inspires/motivates you amidst all this when you think of your role in healthcare? The patients are definitely what motivate me, and always will. Although I know there is risk for exposure, we are doing what we can to prevent it, and at the end of the day, our patients need us. Yes, the world is facing something awful right now. COVID-19 has turned the world upside down, leading to isolation, fear, and uncertainty. From my role in healthcare, I want to point out that before the pandemic, millions of patients with mental illness were living in that same world of isolation, fear, and uncertainty, along with many other overwhelming emotions. Almost 50,000 Americans ended their life by suicide last year, up 200% from the year 2000. My hope is that after the pandemic, we can do as good of a job socially connecting to save the lives of patients with mental illness, as we have socially distancing to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Too often we expect patients with mental illness to seek help on their own.
Kensie Haugen, of Goodridge
Place of employment: Sanford Health, Thief River Falls
Job title and department: RN, OB and Med/Surg
What are your work hours/shifts right now? I’m mostly rotating 12 hour shifts. Some 8 hour shifts here and there, which vary.
Have your hours stayed the same as before or have they changed amidst all of this? They have stayed the same as before.
As someone on the frontlines, can you talk a little bit about your current work situation? There have definitely been changes. All elective surgeries and non-essential clinic appointments have been cancelled or rescheduled. However, we are still doing emergent surgeries and cesarean sections. Urgent care and essential clinic appointments are still warranted. Staff from the departments that are affected have been floating to other departments or areas they previously worked.
There are numerous changes a day as to what staff providing patient care are required to wear for personal protective equipment. Currently, we are required to wear a standard face mask at all times while on the patient care units and then a face shield with direct patient contact. If caring for a COVID-19 positive patient or suspected positive patient, then in addition to the above, we are wearing N95 masks, an isolation gown and gloves. Some of this PPE we wear normally with any “isolation” patient we may be exposed to, so some of this is not new. We always have to follow standard precautions for our own and patient safety.
Currently we are not allowing any visitors to the hospital with exceptions of certain circumstances such as births and for a patient who is going through end of life cares. These restrictions are being reviewed and changed frequently.
All staff, patients and essential visitors are being screened daily at entrances for any concerning symptoms such as cough, fever or shortness of breath and asked about any known exposure to someone with COVID-19. Temperatures are being taken on everyone as well. If there are symptoms present or known exposure, then there are algorithms that are followed. We are receiving many emails a day from our infection control department and higher chains of command that communicate updates and changes.
Personally and/or professionally, what are your worries as a healthcare worker right now? For myself, I am following the guidelines being set forth and following basic hygiene that should be followed at any given time (COVID-19 or not) such as good hand hygiene and staying home if sick. As soon as I get home I put my scrubs in the washer immediately. Of course my family and patients are my main priority, I have just been encouraging them to do the same and follow the recommendations being made by state and federal health officials.
What inspires/motivates you amidst all this when you think of your role in healthcare? I think what helps get me through the day is knowing that eventually there is an end in sight and knowing that the sun will rise again tomorrow. I know there are many more people in this world who face bigger challenges and daily struggles such as homelessness, poverty and chronic illness. Every day I am beyond thankful for my family, friends, good health and the opportunity to keep working during a time like this.
What is one piece of advice you’d like to give to readers? Practice good hand hygiene, stay home if you are sick and only make essential trips out and about. Please also check your sources on social media about things you read. There are many posts that may be false or not entirely true. Sometimes our biggest enemy can be social media. Look for credible sources such as the Minnesota Department of Health or the CDC. Over the years of our nation’s history, there have been many hurdles and challenges faced; this is just another one they will read about in the history books one day. We will make it through.
Lori Thompson, of Grygla
Place of employment: Thief River Care Center
Job title and department: Occupational Therapy Assistant and Activity Director
What are you work hours/shifts right now? I work Monday-Friday, 8am-5pm, adjusting hours as needed.
Can you tell us a little bit about how things have changed at the Care Center? One of the biggest changes in all of this has been in regards to all of the volunteers. They all help better the lives of our residents, but can no longer come into the building. We really miss all the time they give and it spreads our time with each resident thinner.
Everyone enters the building at one door and we must sanitize hands, put on a mask and record our temperature, along with completing a checklist that we have no symptoms before entering. No one but employee may enter; no family, no pastors, no musicians, no volunteers, no barbers, etc.
What does the day look like for you guys at the Care Center? We usually spend our day grouping our residents to socialize. We encourage them out of their rooms so they can engage with others since they are isolated from visitors coming in, but still maintain social distancing for them. For example, we are still gathering for meals, but have one person per table, 6 feet apart. We draw a bingo number at each meal. Each resident has a card in their room that they anxiously await to check.
Instead of gathering for our regular group activities, we load a cart of supplies and go down the hallways and into rooms, trying to spend some time with each resident. We may color a picture, read some devotions, help write a letter, play a game of cards, do some exercises or just talk and laugh together. They are also watching their worship services on TV, along with visiting with their family via FaceTime, Skype or phone calls.
How has this affected the residents? Some of the more alert residents listen to the news and are scared. Some are angry that they can’t see their families and others are just more confused as they see masks on all of our faces. I often find myself smiling to others and then realize they can’t see that. I walked by a co-worker the other day and smiled. I then realized she couldn’t see that so I stopped and said, “Chelsey, I just smiled at you and I wanted you to know that.” She said, “I smiled back.”
What inspires/motivates you amidst all this when you think of your role in healthcare? It’s the RESIDENTS….they keep me motivated to return to work every day - even before this and will after this, also. Our main goal is to keep them safe and keep their lives as meaningful as we can for the time they have left. PEOPLE are why I do what I do. I want all our resident’s families to know I care about them and their loved ones.
Anything you’d like to add? People are GOOD and we will all get through this together. We have had lots of community members and family reaching out and asking what they can do. We have had donations of craft supplies, ipads, flowers and plants, window hearts and pictures to brighten their rooms, notes and letters etc. Anything that we can use for in-room activities is great such as, decks of cards, large print books, spiral notebooks and stationary, coloring pencils and markers, craft supplies, word search, trivia books, hand-held video games, life-like dolls, stamps, joke books, portable DVD players, snacks, candy, etc.