Nursing hope
Wuhan frontline nurse: I only want my certificate to prove my fight
Zhu Meng, a nurse from the Jinyintan Hospital in Wuhan, the Chinese city once hardest hit by COVID-19 was overwhelmed when she was surrounded by flowers in a festive atmosphere ahead of the 109th International Nurses Day.
Zhu, 24, had been fighting on the frontline of the battle against COVID-19 for four months.
This year’s Nurse Day is rather special and the hospital prepared flowers with some sent by people from all walks of life.
Zhu is now taking a break in quarantine, finally being able to eat and sleep whenever she wants.
Fighting COVID-19 is so unforgettable that she recalled sometimes working 13 hours a day. She would even fall asleep while standing or eating.
Through the hardest days, Zhu said she didn’t want to leave the hospital, because that is where she has risked her life for saving lives.
But there is one thing she wants a certificate. “It could prove that I was on the frontline. I can show it to my children, grandchildren at any time, telling them that in 2020 I was fighting the COVID-19 pandemic.”
‘Thank yourself for fighting to the end’
The first seven novel coronavirus patients were transferred to the Jinyintan Hospital on December 29, 2019. Four days later, the hospital set a special zone. Fighting COVID-19 became shared battle for all departments in the hospital.
Zhu joined the battle on January 4 as the first batch of medical staff in the hospital. She said she used to work in several departments and thought she was suitable for any position.
She was working at the department of pediatrics after being transferred from the respiratory department at the end of 2019. “Many children got flu then,” she said. At the onset of the outbreak, Zhu and her colleagues thought it would pass very soon. “Like the flu, in one or two months it would end. But nobody had thought it would last for so long.”
Suddenly, patients were sent to the hospital in flocks by ambulances. Doctors could not do much for some patients with critical conditions… Zhu and her colleagues felt helpless.
Zhu said she was afraid of seeing ambulances and hearing the sirens of ventilators, because it perhaps meant a loss of a life. She feared collapsing out of despair.
After the lockdown was lifted in Wuhan on April 8, life has gradually resumed normalcy. The Jinyintan Hospital is quiet and peaceful again.
But Zhu does not like recalling the experience of the epidemic. “Some scenes are painful and hard,” she said, adding that time will likely help her come to terms with them.
“At the beginning, we knew nothing about the virus, but the death came so soon. Some patients died soon after they were sent to the hospital, not leaving us much to prepare,” said Zhu.
“Before that, the deaths we met were not like this. Medical staff could always do something. But facing the novel coronavirus, we were powerless.”
On April 26, hospitalized COVID-19 patients cleared to zero in Wuhan. The hospital began sterilization work.
Three days later, the weather got warmer with the temperature in Wuhan reaching 32 C. “It felt like sauna wearing three-layer protective cloth.” But Zhu was happy inside on her last day of work before taking a break.
“Four full months, from the beginning to the end,” she told herself. “Thanks for your insistence.”
Appreciated national support
The medical team of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) entered and assisted the antiepidemic work in Wuhan Jinyintan Hospital on January 25, which was the best Chinese New Year gift for Zhu and her colleagues.
Later, the number of medical staff in Jinyintan increased from 600 to more than 1,400 with the support of medical teams from Shanghai, Fujian, Anhui, North China’s Hebei Province and other local hospitals in Wuhan. After that, Zhu said she found the hope and strength to continue. “The national team was our savior,” she said, adding that “Our hospital was the only one treating COVID-19 patients at that time. All the beds were full. It felt like we were going to break down at any moment, and their arrival gave us hope.”
Zhu wants to believe the best in everyone. At the beginning of the epidemic, she was told that anyone who stopped a car on the road to visit Jinyintan hospital would be rejected. “I gave it a try and felt disappointed when there was indeed a case where no drivers would like to take me,” she said.
Moments like this made Zhu uncertain about the world. However, with the arrival of various aids and support forces, Zhu said she began reframing her perspective of everything that happened.
“We have volunteer drivers to take us to and from work every day. They gave us instant
noodles, cola and boiled eggs, which warmed my heart,” she recalled
At the same time, vegetables, fruits and clothes were donated from all over China to medical staff in Wuhan. Food and vegetables were sent to Zhu’s parents, so the young nurse could devote to frontline work without worrying about her family.
Pleasant surprises also eased the stress. “I finally found that the volunteer driver was living in the same community with me. The second patient who survived after intubation treatment in our hospital found that he and his attending doctor are from the same place after recovery and being discharged from the hospital,” Zhu said.
Zhu remarked that people in the world seem to have a myriad of connections with each other. She felt more deeply connected to the power of love and hope.