By Telesha Ramnarine 

IT is often said that persons worth their salt are those who stick around even in times of trouble. In light of this, what can we say about the nurses and health workers in Guyana during this dreadful time of the Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) pandemic?

Even as the majority of such health workers are still on the job – fighting on the frontlines with COVID-19 patients – some continue to report sick; who simply stay home from work, who sends in medicals, and who would have applied for annual leave. Whatever the reason, they are off the job.

While some of them are not to be judged because of having the right reason to stay away – such as not having adequate and proper working gears – some are dodging the system out of fear and frustration.

Chief Nurse, Ministry of Public Health, Linda Johnson says she is fully supportive of nurses who refuse to work without proper equipment so far as protecting themselves are concerned. However, she believes that those staying away for frivolous reasons are exhibiting weakness; showing that they are not comfortable in their skin and that they are in the profession for the wrong reason.

“The true health workers, nurses will come forward now. This profession is supposed to be made up of resilient persons, and when we made our pledge, there was no singling out of any particular disease,” Johnson told the Pepperpot Magazine recently, as she reflected on the increase in absentees lately.

At the moment, according to the Chief Nurse, it is not a case where the system has a shortage of medical gears for the health workers; but it is a case where what is adequate now can become inadequate if the country experiences a surge in the number of persons affected by the disease. A surge becoming the reality is in fact the opinion of a wide cross section of Guyanese.

Nevertheless, in the meantime, Johnson is urging the healthcare workers to ensure that they wear the complete required attire when treating persons who may have COVID-19, and even those who may be suspected cases. Such attire includes goggles, the N95 face mask, gloves, and headwear, among others.
Furthermore, it is vitally important that the health workers exercise care when taking off the suit and other equipment to ensure that they do not contaminate themselves. “Nurses are usually at the frontline fighting. They are the ones patients meet first and often, the last person they deal with. Doctors order, but nurses execute,” Johnson noted.

President of the Guyana Nurses and Midwife Association Cleopatra Barkoye expressed appreciation for the unselfish service of those in the medical field. She too has reported receiving feedback to the effect that more and more nurses were calling in sick. “But I would like to encourage them to go to work. In this time of crisis, you’re not alone. Our colleagues all over the world are doing the same thing,” she urged.

While the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation is experiencing this kind of low attendance, Barkoye noted that the nurses at the West Demerara and New Amsterdam Hospitals have been complaining that they have a shortage of protective gear.

Meanwhile, she said the Association will continue to offer moral and technical help to the nurses, and congratulated the Ministry of Public Health for the initiatives undertaken so far. “We appreciate what they have done, but we want more help for nurses, and we hope the COVID-19 task force that was set up will pay more attention to the concerns of nurses and midwives.”

They are at Work 

Keith Pellew, a Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN), has been working in the medical field since 2001 and over the past few years, has been working with special needs children at the Ptolemy Reid Rehabilitation Center.

In an interview with this publication, he expressed that while those in his profession are expected to be professionals and carry out their functions, they are human too and experiences the same kind of fear like everyone else.

This is a new situation, he observed, and unlike any one that was being dealt with on a global scale. “Fear comes on every time you have to leave home, but you remember your calling and the importance of service to humanity,” he said.

He pointed out that it is only for so long those persons can stay away from the job, and that they will either have to return or quit at some point or the other. “If the system makes them comfortable though, they will not stay away.”

Onika Harris, a Registered Nurse at the Linden Hospital Complex who works in the Accident and Emergency Unit, feels scared to go to work these days, but has still been making her way there every day.

“When you leave home, you don’t know who will come into contact with,” she expressed, adding, “You have to be on your p’s and q’s and try your best.
She has decided to pack an emergency bag in the event that she is exposed to coronavirus and has to remain in the hospital.

While the nurses are all wearing face masks, Harris said they need more training of how to handle suspected cases of COVID-19. “We need more training of how to use our gears, and how to handle the situation. Honestly speaking, I’m not sure how to handle a patient with coronavirus.”

Harris said there is only so much social distancing that can be practiced at the hospital. For instance, if someone has an emergency, more than one person may be required to lend a hand.

She is calling for the health authorities to make more information available to the nurses. “We need a daily update. And we need more information on the new cases, such as where these persons are from and other details about them.”

Harris believes that the people in Linden are not taking the disease seriously as they are turning up at the hospital with the slightest complaints such as wind pain and toe pains. “Unless it’s a condition that you really can’t treat yourself, don’t come,” she advised, adding, “Maybe when they see the first death in Linden then they will become serious.”