Long working day, skipping meals no bar for this nursing officer
AGRA: The days were long drawn and many times Pratibha Shukla, 36, a nursing officer looking after Covid patients, had to skip meals. But nothing deterred her from her duty at the Covid Hospital of SN Medical College here.
Pratibha was one of the three sisters in charge at the Covid Hospital of SN Medical College and was active both in first and second wave. The SN Medical College was L-3 facility, having mostly critical patients and nursing was no easy task as death was not unusual, especially in the second wave in April and May.
“They were tough days but we had to manage and my family did all to make things better for me. My in-laws encouraged me and husband took care of three children, the youngest being just one—year- old when Covid struck in March 2020,” said Pratibha.
“Being part of the nursing staff requires special services for patients and we used to watch from the control room and entered the Covid wards after wearing PPE kits when required. Things were really bad during the second wave but we assisted our doctors to serve the patient in the best possible way and the discharge of a patient in healthy condition was a reward for us’ said Shukla.
“Dr Prashant Gupta, leading the team at the Covid hospital, encouraged us whenever we were depressed or under work pressure.
Initially there was some hesitation but gradually the Covid fear evaporated as we served patients while following all protocols,” she said.