‘Life is about other people’
Baptist Memorial workers on challenges, community support during COVID-19
The COVID-19 pandemic has upended almost every aspect of life in Shelby County since the first case was reported on March 8.
Tens of thousands of people lost their jobs, hundreds of businesses were temporarily closed — some of which will never reopen — or forced to reduce hours and services. Weddings and family gatherings have been put on hold as people socially distance to slow transmission of the virus, and donning a mask has become as routine as grabbing a set of keys when leaving the house.
But the pandemic has also highlighted the essential role healthcare workers play in the community, and the work they do every day to save lives.
The Commercial Appeal spoke with five healthcare workers within the Baptist Memorial Healthcare system who have been at the forefront of the fight against COVID-19 since March about what the hardest parts of the pandemic have been, what community support has meant to them and what they hope to see as the country continues to battle the virus.
Responses have been edited for length and clarity.
What were the first few months of the pandemic like?
Susan Waldon, lead registered respiratory therapist: “Intense. I think that’s a good word for it.”
Several years ago, Baptist staff underwent training for the Ebola virus, Waldon said, which helped prepare her and other staff for COVID-19. She said the stringent infection control measures, personal protective equipment requirements and other practices put in place to protect hospital staff and patients didn’t seem so foreign, but the pandemic has brought many challenges for the staff as well as patient families.
“It’s a process. It’s all uncharted waters.”
Christi Miller, registered nurse: “When we first had patients come to our floor ... we had to rethink the way we were doing a lot of things.”
Miller works on the 5 West ICU stepdown COVID-19 unit, where all the rooms have been converted to negative pressure rooms.
“It doesn’t stop at the hospital. We still go home thinking in our heads, ‘I need to make sure I don’t do this, I need to make sure I do that.’ It’s a process even when you go home. It’s changed a lot of my thinking.”
James Bolden, laboratory system director: “Starting out the challenge was just getting the testing done and getting vendors online. First, we were sending (tests) to the state, then (American Esoteric Laboratories) got ramped up, then later on we were able to do internal testing. But the volume has progressed.”
He praised his lab colleagues, saying they “pulled rabbits out of hats” when supplies ran low and things got busy.
“It is nothing short of amazing. There’s a very strong sense of camaraderie within the walls of this hospital. Not that it wasn’t there before, but this just magnified it.”
What has been the most difficult part of work during the pandemic?
Miller: The first interaction she often has with patients is shortly after they’ve found out they tested positive for COVID-19. They have the right to be angry and scared, Miller said, but she said she tries to get them out of that place.
“When you see them working with you, you’re working together, and then they go home, it’s a really, really good feeling. But ... the process is hard. I couldn’t imagine, especially not having your family with you.”
Many COVID-19 patients can’t have family and friends visit due to infection control policies, so healthcare providers have to step into that role.
“There are some patients, you pray with them and you hold their hand and you talk to them. You’re there with them when they pass because nobody else can be.”
Waldon: “The speed of how fast patients get sick with this disease has been tough. Seeing patients not make it is hard.”
She said having a patient die was difficult to process and was something all healthcare providers took home with them. But, healthcare workers also have to continue to have empathy for their patients, not to become too emotionally distant and keep doing the best job possible for the patients who remain.
“Anybody could be that patient. Anybody could be. It could be any of us, so that’s the most important thing, to take care of that patient, to make sure that patient has everything that they need.”
Larry Hopper, system director of respiratory services: The rapid decline of some COVID-19 patients has been emotionally draining. He has seen the virus “take people out within 24 hours.”
“It’s a lot of pain, but we deal with it because we know we have to get the gloves back on and get in there with the next case and do what we can do.”
“There are some patients, you pray with them and you hold their hand and you talk to them. You’re there with them when they pass.”
Christi Miller registered nurse at Baptist
What has community support meant to you?
Amy Gayhart, senior medical technologist in the microbiology laboratory: Messages of support from the community have been uplifting and a reminder that medical workers are not alone in battling COVID-19. Chalk messages drawn outside the hospital have been particularly inspirational for her. She said she was moved people took the time to draw them for hospital workers.
“It’s amazing. It just makes you feel ... I know not a single person does this job for the praise, but I think just the ‘hey, we’re in it with you, keep your chin up,’ it means a lot.”
Waldon: Community support, from drive-bys to groups who gather around
the hospital to clap and cheer for staff as they arrive at and leave work, have been heartening but she said she almost felt that the prayer and support should be directed to the patients instead.
“We’re just doing what we love to do. We really are. I think the community’s eyes have really been opened as to what the healthcare team is involved (in). It’s not just your doctors and nurses — that’s a huge part — but labs, respiratory, X-ray. I think their eyes have really been opened to how many people are in that team and are really supporting each other.”
Miller: She recalled a day she was leaving the hospital after an exhausting shift and saw signs with scripture verses or pictures drawn by kids. She said it immediately changed her mood.
“We’re not alone in it. It’s not just us, it’s not only the healthcare workers, it’s also the community coming in to keep us strong so we’re strong for the patients. It’s everybody working together.”
Why did you get into healthcare?
Hopper: “To serve other people is a way of life, it’s the purpose of life, I believe. When you’re doing something that is the purpose of life, you never get tired of it. I got into healthcare because I realized that I wanted to have an influence on people. That there are times where they may be down because of their life and what they’ve gone through. I want to be that bright spot. I always wanted to make them laugh, make them feel good about life, make them understand that, you may have seen the bad side, but let me show you the good side.”
Bolden: He said he wanted to help people and his personality drew him to pathology, a more “behind the scenes” role.
“I can use my skills to provide information to those that are in front of the patients and can impact lives. I don’t see the majority of the patients that we’re treating. But I do provide the information, and my team provides the information, through testing, so that individuals ... can go in, look and see what results are there and be able to act on those results.”
Gayhart: “I came from a small town, and there weren’t really a lot of career opportunities. When I started looking at
it ... I said, ‘This can be my way to do my part.’ I went to work in a small rural health clinic down in Mississippi, and that’s when I realized that the laboratory makes a huge difference.”
How have you seen hospital staff support one another or go above and beyond during the pandemic?
Miller: She said any divisions previously existing between different departments or staff members have been erased as they faced the crisis together.
“When we see the job that housekeeping is doing, they’re going into these (COVID-19) rooms, and for a while, cleaning these rooms. It’s just an overall respect between everybody. There are housekeepers helping doctors to get their PPE on. Food and nutrition were passing out plates.”
Gayhart: When Baptist made plans to test all hospital employees, her team made testing kits with everything needed to perform the test in one bag to streamline the process for the nurses performing the nasal swabs. She said she told her colleagues around 7 p.m. that they needed to put together 2,000 kits in the next few days.
“I said, ‘If y’all can just make us 500, that would get us through the next couple of days and that would be amazing.’ When I came in at 5 a.m. the next morning, they had made all 2,000. And they were busy. They said every time they had five minutes they were making kits, making kits. They had all 2,000 in a shift and a half. I was floored.”
What do you want public to know?
Hopper: “We have to learn to take care of each other. We didn’t do it so well before January, before (COVID-19) hit. When you have a crisis I think it brings the realization back to society, to the community, to the country, whatever, you are your brother’s keeper.”
Hopper acknowledged people have grown weary of the personal sacrifices brought on by social distancing practices and other infection control measures but emphasized those actions had saved lives. He said scientists were working hard to create a COVID-19 vaccine but that safe and successful vaccine development took time.
“I want people to know we already have the answer to this virus. The answer is we have to sacrifice ... We know the answer is the vaccine. We know what the answer is. So just take the sacrifice.”
Bolden: “We’re doing it for you. We’re taking care of friends, we’re taking care of neighbors. We’re a Christian organization, we’re taking care of brothers and sisters in Christ. It’s not for the praise or anything like that. It’s great that more attention is being brought to the work that’s being done here. But the individuals that are doing this on a day-to-day basis, they’re not doing it for a paycheck. It’s almost like a calling. All of us are responding to the call that has been put on us.”
What do you want to see from the community as the pandemic continues?
Bolden: “We’re not responsible necessarily for the circumstances that are put in front of us, but we’re 100% responsible for how we respond to them. None of us created and brought this coronavirus here upon us. This is something that has happened to us, a circumstance that has been presented before us. Whether or not someone believes in shutting cities and towns down or opening them up, either way, we can still exercise 100% responsibility by still exercising that social distancing.”
What do you want to see after the pandemic?
Hopper: “I want us to come out of it knowing that life is about other people and how you help them.”
Gayhart: “I would like to see us all continue to lift each other up. We’ve done that remarkably well here, it’s unbelievable. Nobody wants to take credit for what they do, they always say ‘well they helped.’ It’s a team, that’s what we are here, it’s a big team and I would like to see us continue to lift each other up.”