Pain and the pride of fighting this virus, by nurse back on front line
A NURSE from Yorkshire has told how he fears taking coronavirus home to his family and the heartbreaking final moments he has spent with patients who have lost their fight against the disease.
Joan Pons Laplana, a digital manager at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals, moved back to frontline working in intensive care when the coronavirus crisis began.
Speaking to The Yorkshire Post’s political podcast Pod’s Own Country, he said the experience had been both the worst and best times of his career.
Mr Laplana, named Britain’s nurse of the year in 2018 and who has previously campaigned to remain in the EU, came to the UK from Spain 20 years ago to work for the NHS.
He said: “This coronavirus crisis has had a big impact on me personally – physically, mentally and professionally because of the loneliness of my work I do now.
“Normally I love the human part of nursing. That’s what I love most and this coronavirus has taken all this human side away.
“We’ve tried to put it back with some technology but it’s not easy, it’s not the same. And I know I’ve had a lot of patients who have died with nobody next to them and nurses have come back in to hold their hands.”
Mr Laplana, a father of three, said he would never forgive himself if he took the virus home to his family.
He added: “It’s always at the back of your mind. When you look at the news, that some of my colleagues have died because of it, and I may be next, I don’t know.”
But he admitted there was a paradox, adding: “I’ve actually never been so proud to be a nurse and I’m so happy to be able to fight against coronavirus.
“There’s this sense of pride but also the anxieties. It’s a mixed cocktail. Sometimes it’s very difficult to express.”
He also said the crisis had presented an opportunity for people to appreciate the work of frontline staff.