CAF Story | Brother and sister in arms
Video / June 26, 2020
Transcript
(SG) We are fortunate to be able to share this together, to be from the same family and to be able to talk to each other despite the pandemic.
(JG) For me, as a nurse, my typical day, I arrive in the department and get the report from the nurse or the nursing assistant who worked the evening shift. She will give me the specifics about the patients I need to monitor. After that, I check with the staff who are with me for the night, the orderlies, if I have any nursing assistants, make sure that everyone has arrived and that everyone has the information they need to monitor our patients properly. Then, I help the orderlies as they make their rounds to take care of patient hygiene. At the same time, I take the opportunity to assess each of my patients to see whether they have any specific needs during the night. If there are procedures that need to be done at that time, I do them as I go. And generally, at around 6 o’clock in the morning we begin to do previously scheduled procedures like blood draws, capillary blood glucose, things like that. And once the day nurse arrives, I give her my report so she can start her day with that.
(SG) Sleep well?
My typical day, I would say it’s more assisting the orderlies. In the morning, we help them feed the residents. After that, we are always there to support them in their duties. It’s gratifying to be there when it’s important.
(JG) Often, it was really disorganized in terms of care and in terms of management, since there was a severe staff shortage. A lot of the time, we had to figure out on our own how the centre operated. But, as time goes on, ultimately we’re doing the job of a nurse. That’s our profession. And also, working as a team, making sure that everyone finds a job that suits their skills. It’s quite a challenge, but it’s a job we love, one we’re trained to do, so it’s pretty good in that regard.
When we arrived in the centres, some of the residents were in really poor condition, their health was deteriorating significantly because of the illness. In the past few days, we can see those same residents, when I arrive for my shift at 11:30, 12 o’clock at night, they’re standing at their half-door and they’re singing songs. It really warms my heart to see, more and more, that the residents are feeling better and are recovering from the illness. That’s something really satisfying.