This archive report was first published on 12 July 2020.
Day in life of nurses looking after virus patients ¶
As the new coronavirus cases surge, thousands of healthcare workers are risking their lives on the frontline. Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists and Dentists Union acting secretary-general Chibanzi Mwachonda revealed that two nurses have succumbed to Covid-19, while a gynaecologist, Dr Adisa Lugalika, died on Thursday of the virus.
Our Health and Science reporter Angela Oketch spoke to four nurses, who spend more than 50 hours a week in the Covid-19 ICU, treating critically ill patients. They discuss the risks, the workload, moral challenges and the emotional toll it's all taking on them.
One of the nurses, Joyce Njeri, spends at least two weeks away from her family every month due to her job. She works for a week at the hospital then stays at the facility's hostel for two weeks in quarantine. She is then tested and her body monitored to ensure she did not contract coronavirus while attending to patients.
Emillie Ashihundu, ICU nurse at Aga Khan Hospital, has to be there every morning to ensure that her junior staff are well-protected to get into the wards and attend to patients. She has to be there when they are donning and doffing off their personal protective equipment to avoid any infection.
Irene Wahome, ICU manager at Kenyatta University Teaching and Referral Hospital, ensures that her staff get psychological support, are fed well, and their houses are fumigated after every shift. She also does double work, checking on them when they are at work and at home.
Wambui Njenga, critical care nurse at the Nairobi Hospital, struggles to protect her patients, her family, and herself from getting the coronavirus. She fears that she could get infected since she is attending to critically ill patients who literally depend on her to massage, feed, give medication, and even bathe.
