Health-care workers on the front lines find love, support in Facebook group
Site is `the space that we need right now,' says lab tech and community creator
Tanya Hughes wasn't ready for the community response to the Facebook group she created for Windsor health-care workers on the pandemic front lines.
“It started with just a post I made and some friends of mine commenting on it,” said Hughes, 38.
“Right away, I thought: `Maybe I should create a page or space where we could share our stories and experiences — just kind of lean on each other.”
In the few days since Hughes started the group — entitled Windsor Frontline Health Care Workers — its membership has surged to more than 3,400 users.
Health-care professionals from across the region have been offering each other words of support and encouragement, and sharing selfies of themselves at work in personal protective equipment.
“People just keep sharing and sharing,” said Hughes, who works as a lab technician and has been drawing blood at long-term care facilities across the city. “I did not expect it. But it has become such an inspirational, beautiful thing.”
“I have a little group of friends who have been my glue through this pandemic. I've been able to turn to them and they've kept me together,” Hughes explained. “Now everyone has a support system like that.”
Cait Desmarais, a friend of Hughes who helps moderate the forum, said the group has given her a boost as she quarantines in a hotel, away from family.
“It was getting really depressing over the Christmas break,” said Desmarais, 30, who works on the dietary team at a long-term care home.
“Now, when I wake up the morning, I'm excited to look at the group and see the posts from health-care workers — people who are out in the field every single day.”
“To see doctors, paramedics, high-ranking nurses, all these people going through this thing and supporting each other — it's humbling. It's overwhelming.”
But social media can have its pitfalls. Hughes said she's very aware of the potential for toxicity on Facebook. That's why she has recruited several like-minded moderators to keep the group free from trolls, drama, and ugly arguments.
Any negativity or controversy will be swiftly removed and blocked, Hughes said. A public message asks all users to keep the group “as wholesome as possible.”
“We're going to trust people to respect us,” Hughes said. “Respect that this is our space, as healthcare workers. This is the space that we need right now for some positivity.”
Although the group is new, Hughes said it will continue “as long as we need it.”
“Everyone is tired. Everyone is needing a push,” Hughes said. “I'm looking at other ideas about putting information in the group for health-care workers who are feeling like they're breaking and need more help.”