Home Care Nurses Admit Emotional Toll On Them Has Been High During Coronavirus Pandemic
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- This week is National Nurses Week and CBS2 wants to honor all the nurses that have made a difference during the coronavirus pandemic.
CBS2's Kiran Dhillon has more on how the crisis has changed life for home care nurses and the patients they serve.
For many home care nurses around New York City, like 26-year-old Michael Guglielmelli, protocol has changed a lot since the pandemic began.
"We are using, you know, fullest, fullest extent of personal protective equipment. That is with gowns, masks, goggles, and gloves," Guglielmelli said.
But it isn't just the gear and equipment that has changed. Guglielmelli, a registered nurse on Staten Island with the Visiting Nurse Service of New York, said it's the emotional toll that has been the hardest for nurses and patients alike.
"Patients are a little bit more fearful than they were before this," Guglielmelli said.
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Fearful because patients without COVID-19 are now worried nurses could bring the virus into their homes. While others, like Alma Santos Yatco, who is home recovering from COVID-19 after spending nearly a month in the hospital, are worried they could pass it on to their home care workers.
Santos Yatco, a two-time cancer survivor, is also a nurse.
"It is a fear of the unknown. It's being a nurse, like, you know, a lot. You are sometimes sad, but I have to put that on the side," Santos Yatco said.
Santos Yatco said the key to conquering the fear has been precautions and education. She's more grateful then ever to have a nurse taking care of her at home.
"Even though you're a nurse, like I could take my blood pressure, but having someone to like a colleague or, or a nurse from VNS really help us a lot. It's just like the support that they could give you," she said.
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Many home care nurses have had to keep their distance from their own families as a result of being in direct contact with the virus. But they say there really is no alternative.
"Who would be taken care of these patients when they come home, and the biggest challenge is you are in their environment now. So you have to adjust as a clinician, as a human to their environment, their activities of daily living and really work around making them independent and educating them," Guglielmelli said.
During National Nurses Month, they are extremely proud of the profession they chose and of their colleagues.
"Health care worker out there, I think that we are doing the best that we can and my heart is with everyone, and we will get through this," Guglielmelli said.
They say it is a difficult job, but not one they'd ever consider giving up.
