By Ashley Cho & Max Wang
In the chaotic lobbies of hospitals and testing centers, many tired healthcare workers help treat patients with COVID-19. At home, there are students hoping that their parents or siblings will come back from work safely.
Senior Anoop Singh’s sister, Ramandeep Kaur, is a TCHS alumna that works in the SUNY Downstate Medical Center in Brooklyn, NY. Although the conditions at her hospital are not critical, that doesn’t stop her family from worrying about her.
She works in pediatrics at the hospital and traveled there almost three years ago. Hit with the sudden surge of COVID-19 patients, the medical school shifted focus to helping coronavirus patients.
“We knew her personal protective equipment was not adequate there,” Singh said. “We even tried to collect N95 masks here and ship them to her as a care package.”
Worried, Singh and his parents try to contact Kaur almost every day to check up on her and the situation in New York. She has an apartment that she returns to after her shift ends.
“She gets pretty tired from working that much every day,” Singh said. “We don’t worry as much as we did before because she is careful for her health and the situation in the hospital has gotten much better.”
According to Kaur, the government is conducting a study of the doctors and monitoring signs of antibody developments in those doctors.
“I think it’s pretty cool that something like this is happening,” Singh said. “It is great that the government is doing this study; however, the hospital is preparing for a second wave of the virus that could potentially occur in the fall.”
Similarly, sophomore Natalie Tam’s mother, Terri Tam, is a Clinical Nurse Educator for Kaiser Permanente at Baldwin Park and a Family Nurse Practitioner at a non disclosed clinic in San Gabriel. Terri Tam has been a Registered Nurse for more than 20 years, with experience in Nursing Education, Medicine, Surgery, Telemetry and Risk Management.
Terri Tam’s role as a Clinical Nurse Educator is to educate and train nursing staff on how to safely deliver nursing care for suspected and confirmed COVID-19 patients. Since all in-person visits have been converted to phone calls, her responsibilities as an FNP include providing care instructions recommended by the LA Department of Public Health to patients who are concerned about exposure or show symptoms related to COVID-19.
“It’s definitely worrisome knowing that she is exposed to a harmful environment for such long periods of time,” Natalie Tam said. “Although she does not return until late at night, we are proud of what she’s doing and hope that this pandemic will soon be over.”
Since the COVID-19 outbreak, Terri Tam works evening and occasional night shifts from Tuesday to Saturday, making her family anxious.
“The good thing is that we are able to reflect on how we can better prepare the country in the future if we have another pandemic crisis,” Terri Tam said. “It makes me happy knowing that people who are not in the healthcare field are stepping up and helping by putting their creative minds at work by sewing masks and 3D printing supplies.”
The type of personal protective equipment that nurses need to wear is dependent on the type of patient care activities. Before starting the shift, they are given a set of clean scrubs to wear for the eight to 16-hour shift. For suspected and confirmed COVID-19 patients, N95 masks, face shields or goggles, hair bonnets, gowns and gloves must be worn at all times.
“By the end of this pandemic, I hope our global community continues to practice proper hand hygiene by keeping their immunizations up to date,” Terri Tam said. “I also hope that during this time, people will learn that they need to cherish their loved ones more and realize how important they are.”