Skin Clinic nursing staff determined to give of their...

From 3A COVID-19

In 2020 when COVID-19 became a reality, nurses were among the professionals who continued to go to work; at the clinic they worked a shift system.

“We were provided with the necessary stuff to work with and work went on as usual,” Bowman said. While she was encouraged to be careful by her family they were very supportive.

Barry said she was somewhat scared because she used public transportation and instead of three in a seat, many times it was four and the drivers would point out that everyone wanted to get home. Eventually, she started paying for the front seat of the bus in an effort to keep herself safe. Her family was also supportive and most of them continued to go to work as well and they did everything to ensure they remained safe.

For Alli it was very concerning time. Her child has an underlining condition and she had to balance work and ensuring that he kept up with his online schooling.

“It was very scary and constantly I had to remind my husband not to interact with him until he showered, until he changed…” she said.

Alli has a sibling who was very afraid of the virus and since Alli worked as a nurse she never interacted with her closely during that period but would visit and stand at the gate and speak with her.

“If she collected a package from me she would sterilise the entire package. [She] did not allow her kids to touch it… She would always call and say why you all going to work and if you have to work and stuff like that. My parents were okay…,” she said.

Earlier this year, Alli and her son both contracted the virus, but they both recovered quickly. Castello said he was not scared since nursing is already a risky job and they have been trained how to protect themselves in crises.

Prior to COVID-19 they saw some 200 patients on the general clinic day but since the pandemic they see patients every day. However, the number is not as large as they had to limit how many people they see on a given day. They have been visiting the clinics on a monthly basis.

Noble profession

Bowman referred to nursing as a noble profession, indicating that it is not done for the love of money but rather for the “love of doing it.

“You have to be caring, you have to show empathy, you have to be compassionate that’s it. The service that we give does not match or equate to the salary that we receive but above all that, despite all of that we give our hearts for the patients. The patient is our priority and we cannot harden our hearts because of everything that is going on right now … If you do it halfheartedly you wouldn’t accomplish your goals and desires in the nursing profession.”

Barry summed it as, “nurses do so much and receive so little” and she added sometimes patients are unthankful but on the other hand some are very thankful and even visit the nurses after they are discharged; this keeps them going.

“I think the nursing profession can evolve to be something greater… I would agree with Nurse Wendy that you do it out of the kindness and goodness of your heart. You go above and beyond for your patients and in spite of all that is happening around us with politics and everything else we may grumble and say the salary is not good but if we stay home because we are dissatisfied who is left at a loss? Not the ministers, not the doctors but the patients; so we still go out and do what we have to do,” Alli stated.

Castello was blunt enough to say that nurses are not treated fairly. He pointed out that they are often put in harm’s way and are expected to be resilient no matter what. And at the end of the day, they are told it is not enough and that in itself is discouraging.

“It is one of the reasons why a lot of nurses don’t want to stay here [in Guyana] because we are not appreciated for what we are doing and everybody wants to be told, ‘okay you are doing a great job’ and we are going to reward you for that. So, I think more should be done for nurses because we do more than we should do and we will keep on doing that for years to come because that is what nursing is all about, caring constantly,” he said.