CPMC Nurse Gives Firsthand Account Of Hospital's Battle Against The Coronvirus
SAN FRANCISCO (KPIX 5) – A California Pacific Medical Center senior nursing executive who has witnessed the local battle against the coronavirus has shared his experience and his concerns about the pandemic.
Jonathan Judy-Del Rosario, who works in San Francisco, has been a nurse for 23 years. While he has not been on the front lines of the battle, as an administrator, he has watched his colleagues struggle with not only caring for the sick but also wrestle with concerns for their own safety.
"I don't think any of us when we made our career choices anticipated seeing anything like this in our career," he told KPIX 5 remotely.
COMPLETE COVERAGE: CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC
Judy Del-Rosario's additional responses follow below.
On The Challenges Nurses Face During The Pandemic:
"Leaving home each day is difficult and I'm sure it's difficult for everyone who works in health care now."
"We leave our families behind, we leave our significant others behind, many of us are coming to work in a different way than we're used to. Many of us took public transportation. It's rare that people are doing that now. Most of us drive to work. That's changed part of our routine."
"There was a certain amount of joy and happiness coming to work but there's been an addition of a lot of anxiety that comes with this and a lot of uncertainty."
About ventilators:
"Ventilators are used in our critical care units and they're used to augment or assist a patient in breathing when they cannot breathe. For patients that get to that stage, having the ventilator is the difference between life and death for these patients. And that's why it's so critical that we are able to ensure that we have enough ventilators for patients that need them."
About sheltering-in-place / social distancing:
"All of us in health care really appreciate the efforts people have put forth to stay at home, shelter in place, help protect themselves so that they don't get sick. Help protect us also not getting sick and allowing us to provide the best care that we can for these patients."
Judy-Del Rosario also told us that all the efforts we make not only keep them healthy, but when they go home, it helps to ensure that their families and loved ones stay safe as well.
