One seniors’ home care aide takes us to COVID front line
‘We lost so many so quickly,’ says veteran employee of care home where 11 residents died
The Haro Park care home in Vancouver’s West End announced Friday it no longer had any known COVID-19 cases, after having one of the worst outbreaks in B.C.
When the first coronavirus case was announced at Haro Park on March 18, it became the third seniors home in B.C. with an outbreak.
And at the height of the outbreak, in early April, there were 37 infected residents and 27 infected staff.
In total, 11 residents have died. On May 1, the home said everyone else had recovered but, until it is cleared by the medical health officer, it will continue to be locked down.
Care aide Dorothy Nelson has worked at the home for more than 35 years. She tells us what life is like for essential workers like her during a health care crisis.
The conversation has been edited for length.
Q:
What has the job been like since the arrival of COVID -19?
A:
It was more fear, more anxiety, and more worry for the residents and how many of our residents we were going to lose because of the fact that the majority of people who have adverse or the strongest reaction to COVID are seniors. So we knew we were in trouble . ... And then knowing that the families can’t be there, that was super hard to know that you were everything to them.
Q:
How did the deaths affect you and your co-workers?
A:
You develop a bond with these people and you develop a bond with their families. For us, it is always hard when we lose a resident. (COVID) made it harder because we lost so many so quickly. You didn’t really get over the shock. There was no processing time.
Q:
You had to wear gowns, gloves and masks for some patients in the past, but now you must with everyone. How has that changed your daily routine?
A:
You have to add two to three minutes to don all the PPE before you enter the room. Then you have to take care of the person, whether it is feeding, bathing, toileting, whatever. Then you’ve got to doff, and you have to wash your hands three to four times during that period as you are doffing, so it added probably another 15 minutes of time per resident. And it was tough when the person was struggling.
Q:
Are there enough minutes in the day to care for your residents?
A:
No. Not to do it properly, the way your heart wants to take care of these residents . ... When you go into a room and you have 15 minutes — 15 minutes and that’s at the outside — to get somebody out of bed, to wash their face and hands, to brush their teeth, to do their hair, to make them feel good.
Q:
How did it affect your co-workers when dozens got infected?
A:
It added to the fear. But then once the staff started recovering and coming back, and jumping right back into the thick of things, once the first ones came back, then everybody calmed down about it.
Q:
Your department usually has six workers, but you are down to three?
A:
One reason we are short is because of the directive that care aides can’t work in more than one facility. One of our evening staff … had a full-time job at another facility, so she chose to work there.
Q:
So are you working extra shifts?
A:
Oh my goodness, I’ve worked 31 out of the last 35 days. I have worked, out of those, five double shifts.
Q:
Do you worry about your own health?
A:
Sometimes I do because I have a touch of asthma and I’m 58, so it could affect me a lot harder. But for me, with having gone through other outbreaks, it is a lot of common sense: hand washing, hand sanitizing, keeping your hands away from your face. We wear masks, we have eye protection on (and) gloves.
Nelson chairs the Haro Park local of the Hospital Employees’ Union