COVID SURVIVOR NURSE CALLS FOR PAY RISE FOR STAFF:
Alison Magor, a district nursing sister, said she was left bedbound for weeks and feared for her life when she contracted Covid-19. Here, she speaks to health correspondent Mark Smith
A NURSE who was struck down with Covid-19 said she feared never seeing her family again after being admitted to A&E with severe breathing difficulties.
Alison Magor, who works in the community as a district nursing sister, has joined the call for nursing staff in Wales to be given a pay rise in recognition of their “outstanding” efforts during this crisis.
The mother-of-two and grandmother-of-four said she became severely unwell with the virus at the very start of the pandemic in March.
As well as finding it hard to breathe, she also suffered with muscle aches, extreme tiredness and even blisters on her feet due to the potentially fatal infection.
The 56-year-old needed two separate visits from Welsh Ambulance Service paramedics as she bravely battled with the condition at home. But on the second occasion the decision was made to admit her to the emergency unit at the Royal Gwent Hospital in Newport for vital breathing support.
“I was very frightened at the time, even as a nurse,” she recalled.
“My daughters were terrified too. I hadn’t told them I’d gone into hospital that night because I didn’t want them to worry. But they were really upset [when they found out] and told me that I could have been one of those people who went in and didn’t come back out again.
“That was a genuine fear of mine.” Alison, who manages a team of 14 district nurses across communities in Torfaen, said her team adapted incredibly well when the virus first arrived in Wales.
“We are a team without ceilings, so whatever comes in we have to go and see,” she said.
“The team have worked exceptionally hard in adapting to the new situation. They have had to wear PPE in patient’s homes regardless of whether there is Covid or not, because you don’t know who they’ve seen, who’s been in their home and what contact they’ve had.
“[District nurses] are in and out of their cars all the time, so they have to dispose of their PPE. They also have to do hand washing above what they would normally do.”
She said district nursing teams across Wales have been on hand to explain the ever-changing situation to concerned patients and their
“Our patients see things on the TV and are not always able to put it into context,” she said.
“So it’s been up to district nurses in the community to explain and reassure not only our patients but their families as well.
“We have had a lot of people who are shielding, so our caseload has increased exponentially.”
But it wasn’t long into the outbreak that Alison started developing some tell-tale signs of the virus.
“There were two of us at the time [on the team who had it],” said Alison, who lives in Cwmbran.
“We didn’t think anything of it because it was fairly new. It started with a very, very slight cough – but I did cough occasionally anyway.
“I became very short of breath, my muscles ached all over, I had a pounding headache, was literally unable to get out of bed, felt very lethargic and couldn’t concentrate on anything. I also couldn’t sleep but kept on dosing all the time.
“Being a nurse I could check my own oxygen rates and they were just going down and down. It drops to a certain level and then [the device] starts beeping. For me it was beeping all the time. As a nurse you know you have to carry on breathing deeply all the time.”
Alison booked an appointment at a drive-through Covid-19 testing facility in Cwmbran, and within 48 hours relatives. her results were returned as positive.
Her condition then continued to worsen in the days and weeks that followed, with her heart rate rocketing to 200bpm – more than twice the normal levels.
“I was getting text messages from my family wanting to know how I was. I spoke to a couple of people on the phone and I could only manage one word at a time,” she admitted.
“It was a full three weeks before I was actually able to get out of bed. I can remember going down the stairs, sitting on the middle stair and thinking ‘I can’t go any further.’ I stopped for about five minutes, managed to get downstairs and then sat in the living room [recovering] for about an hour.”
During her stay at the Royal Gwent A&E department, Alison said she was stunned by how organised the staff were under such exceptional circumstances.
“They were absolutely fantastic. As a nurse, to see them working under such difficult conditions was humbling,” added Alison, who was kept in isolation and on breathing support.
“They worked seamlessly. The care that they gave and the kindness that they showed, despite the situation they were in, was phenomenal.
“Several nurses gave what we call ‘virtual hugs’ because they kept on asking if I was okay as my stats kept on dropping all the time.
“Before I went home, a nurse sat with me and said to me ‘if there’s anything you need, or any problems, or if you are worried, just ring us.’ It was so reassuring.”
Following a series of tests on her blood oxygen levels, the decision was made to discharge Alison from hospital 24 hours after being admitted.
But even months on from first contracting the virus, she said she still is not back to full health.
“I had to take five weeks off work,” said Alison, who also lost her father to lung cancer during this period and spent five days caring for him at home before he passed away.
“When I was absent I was extremely concerned about my colleagues. There were two of us off at the same time with Covid, and there were a couple of other nurses who were off with symptoms and had to be tested but found to be negative.
“I was worried that I wasn’t there to lead the team, I was worried that I wasn’t there to support my deputy sister who had only just stepped into her post [and had to cover for me]. But she did an absolutely fantastic job.
“My team have been superb, and I don’t think I could have asked anything more from my employer who has allowed me a phased return back into work.”
Alison said she counts herself as incredibly lucky to still be alive. “Every single day I could see the death toll mounting, and every single day I’d think to myself that I could have been one of them,” she said.
“But I’m here, I’m back working, my family still have their mum and their grandmother, my mum still has her daughter.
“I just feel very sad and very sorry for all those people who have lost loved ones.”
This week it was announced that doctors and dentists in Wales would be given a 2.8% pay rise. The uplift is in line with the recommendations of a report by the Doctors and Dentists Review Body (DDRB) which was laid before Parliament on Tuesday.
However, nurses and other healthcare workers in Wales are under different NHS contracts and are not part of these negotiations.
“I truly believe that nurses – and our associates – really do deserve a pay rise in line with so many other people,” said Alison who is chair of the Gwent branch of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) in Wales and also sits on the RCN Wales board.
“We have shown that we are capable of amazing care under extreme pressures.
“And I don’t think people realise that we have professional qualifications too. Nurses are dedicated, welltrained, well-educated people. The majority of us have degrees and masters degrees. I really do feel that our nurses now need pay commensurate with the level of work that they carry out.
“At the moment we are not getting the feedback that says we are worth it.”