Back when this all started, the common refrain was “we are all in this together.”
The community lauded health-care workers as heroes, saluting them with nightly pots and pans serenades, providing them with free pizza and drive-by parades, and offering them thanks for being on the front-lines of the COVID-19 pandemic. While most people stayed home to help slow the spread, health-care workers went out every day to do the essential work of saving lives.
The first wave crested, and then came the second, the third and the fourth. Each wave has brought new trials. But health-care workers continued to go out in the world every day, doing whatever was needed to help and protect the patients in their care.
Each wave carried with it some shifts in public perception. The parades gave way to protests of public health restrictions, some held right in front of hospitals; to shouting by family members at the doctors, nurses and other health-care workers doing their best to save the lives of loved ones; to the circulating of social media posts that questioned whether the pandemic was even real.
Despite these challenges, health-care workers continued to show up, never pausing in their commitment to providing critical care and skilled services to patients in need.
The entire Lethbridge College community is proud to call many of these health-care workers alumni, and grateful for the work all health-care workers have done to keep communities healthy and safe throughout the pandemic. And so, in collaboration with Alberta Health Services, Wider Horizons went behind-the-scenes at Chinook Regional Hospital, and through photographs and the words of our alumni, we are providing a glimpse at what work during two shifts in a pandemic is really like.
We are, in fact, all in this together. And we are so grateful for the service and care provided by our health-care workers.
WORKING THROUGH THE PANDEMIC HAS REINFORCED THE IDEA THAT WE ARE LIKE FAMILY TO EACH OTHER. WE HAVE ALL COME TOGETHER TO GET THROUGH AN UNIMAGINABLE AND CHALLENGING TIME TO PROVIDE EXCEPTIONAL CARE TO OUR PATIENTS. WE HAVE DONE THIS BY WORKING TOGETHER AS A TEAM, SUPPORTING EACH OTHER, LAUGHING TOGETHER WHEN WE COULD AND TAKING IT ONE DAY AT A TIME. WE HAVE A SPECIAL BOND AND WE WILL LOOK BACK AND KNOW THAT WE DID IT, TOGETHER.
{ JEN SCHERER }
Jen Scherer (Nursing 2002), RN, works with a COVID-19 patient in the ICU at Chinook Regional Hospital.
I WISH PEOPLE KNEW HOW OVERWHELMED WE ARE, WITH ONE WAVE AFTER ANOTHER, WITH NO REPRIEVE. AS AN EMERGENCY DEPARTMENT, WE CAN’T SAY “SORRY WE’RE FULL” AND PUT A CLOSED SIGN OR A NO VACANCY SIGN ON THE DOOR – WE NEED TO FIND ROOM. HAVING NO END IN SIGHT IS THE HARDEST PART. THE LACK OF URGENCY FROM THE PUBLIC IS ALSO DISCOURAGING, KNOWING THERE ARE PEOPLE WHO SAY “IT’S JUST A BAD COLD OR FLU, NO NEED FOR THE VACCINE.”
{ BRENDA BARVA }
Brenda Barva (Nursing 2003), RN, works in the emergency department at Chinook Regional Hospital. Lethbridge’s emergency department was renovated in 2016, a process that added 30 per cent more floor space to create additional treatment rooms and other specialized spaces.
THIS HISTORIC EVENT HAS DEMONSTRATED HOW STRONG AND RESILIENT NURSES ARE. WE WERE ABLE TO COME TOGETHER FROM MANY DIFFERENT SPECIALTY AREAS, ADAPT, AND PREVAIL OVER ALL THE OBSTACLES THIS PANDEMIC HAS THROWN AT US. THE SUPPORT WE RECEIVED IN ICU FROM ALL THE OTHER UNITS IS INCREDIBLY HEARTWARMING.
{ JENNIFER NEUFELD }
Jennifer Neufeld (Nursing 2004), works in the ICU at Chinook Regional Hospital. Before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, there were more than 210 acute care beds, 10 ICU beds, 45 acute geriatric beds and more than 15 NICU bassinets. At times during the last 22 months, there have been at least 24 beds in the ICU.
WHILE WORKING AS AN EMERGENCY ROOM NURSE DURING THE PANDEMIC, I HAVE REALIZED THAT THE MOST IMPORTANT FRONTLINE MEASURES WE HAVE TO FIGHT COVID ARE PUBLIC HEALTH INITIATIVES. OVER THE LAST TWO YEARS, I HAVE EXPERIENCED FIRSTHAND HOW DIFFICULT IT IS TO MANAGE AND TREAT ACUTE COVID-19, AND I HAVE WITNESSED THE PHYSICAL AND EMOTIONAL DEVASTATION IT CAUSES. I HAVE BECOME MORE VOCAL ABOUT THE IMPORTANCE OF PUBLIC MASKING AND VACCINATION BECAUSE I WANT EVERYONE TO KNOW THAT WITHOUT THESE MEASURES, THE VIRUS WILL CONTINUE TO SURGE.
{ JENNIFER DAVIS }
Jennifer Davis (Bachelor of Nursing After Degree 2013), RN, works in the emergency department at Chinook Regional Hospital. While much of nursing involves direct care of patients, it is also essential that nurses are excellent communicators and collaborators who share information with colleagues working other shifts.
SOMETHING I HAVE LEARNED DURING THE PANDEMIC IS ABOUT THE RESILIENCE AND COMPASSION OF HEALTH-CARE STAFF. WITH THE INCREASED STRESS, DEMAND AND RISK, HEALTH-CARE WORKERS CONTINUE TO COME TO WORK TO CARE FOR PATIENTS AND PROVIDE THE BEST CARE THEY CAN, WHILE JUGGLING FAMILIES, STAFF SHORTAGES AND JOB UNCERTAINTY. IT JUST REAFFIRMED TO ME THAT HEALTH-CARE WORKERS ARE REALLY HERE FOR THE PATIENTS AND NOT A PAYCHEQUE.
{ RENAE NEDZA }
Renae Nedza (Bachelor of Nursing After Degree 2013), RN, works in the emergency department at Chinook Regional Hospital.
While the jobs in the health industry are varied, the people who choose these careers all have something in common — the desire to help others. Whatever the position, the essential training needed to succeed in these in-demand careers starts at Lethbridge College.
Learn more about these programs at learn.lc/health_and_wellness:
- Bachelor of Nursing
- Bachelor of Nursing – After Degree
- Health Care Aide; Massage Therapy
- Medical Device Reprocessing
- Medical First Responder
- Practical Nurse
- Practical Nurse Refresher
- Primary Care Paramedic
- Therapeutic Recreation – Gerontology
- Unit Clerk
