It is no surprise that the lockdown at Alert Level 4 in New Zealand has turned the lives of people upside down. With minimal to no contact protocol to save the people from the dreaded Covid-19, social distancing has become a new normal, and this has indeed dramatically reduced Covid-19 infection and community transmission in the last three weeks.
Practising the new normal, Kiwi Indian nurse Jennifer Karthak narrates the new order of duty at her clinic, Dominion Road Surgery, where she has been working for the last four years. Coming from a family of healthcare workers, her father a doctor and grandfather a health worker too, nurse Jennifer explains how she and her clinic has been performing their duties on the frontline while being mindful of the precautions to be taken during this time.
Jennifer says in her pre-Covid-19 era, up until less than a month before the lockdown was declared in New Zealand, her clinic would take both appointments and walk-ins, accommodating patients filling the capacity for any day. But since the lockdown came into effect long with stringent social distancing rules, her clinic has been taking mostly phone call appointments and triaging before seeing the patients face to face, if necessary.
Currently, two nurses are present at the clinic taking telephonic consultations, providing information to the patients. However, for some cases, they are still seeing patients for their childhood immunisation, influenza vaccines and people for wound dressings.
“Before everything was face to face and now, it can be tough working just over the phone at times, it is quite mentally draining too,” Jennifer Karthak told the Indian Weekender.
Jennifer adds that the number of consultations at the clinic, face to face, has decreased significantly due to more telephonic and video consultations as they have increased infection prevention and control for both patients and staff. They are also seeing patients or vaccinating them in the car park so as to minimise contact at the clinic.
“Everyone is bringing a change of clothes to work, so we work in different clothes to the ones we travel back home in. Once home, everything goes in the wash. So you can imagine the amount of washing that been done. Again this to help reduce chances of us bringing the virus home to our family.
“We screen people via phone and ensuring that we are sending people to their closest COVID-19 testing centres if warranted. If we do end up seeing patients who meet the clinical criteria for Covid-19 we provide them with surgical masks and isolate them in one room and provide them with hand sanitizer and tissues and thoroughly clean the room after they have left.
“Any nurse or doctors who will be in contact with the patient to swab or do a physical exam we have to wear our PPE, hand hygiene, gown, mask, eyewear, and gloves.
“We have had a few people from our clinic with positive results for Covid-19 cases and are at home under isolation at the moment,” Jennifer adds.
Her clinic, Dominion Road Surgery falls in on of the most ethnically diverse belt, Mt Roskill and Mt Eden and the clinic has attended patients from a wide range of people, especially Indian, South East Asian, Pacific Islanders and refugees.
“Our doctors and nurses can speak a lot of languages, Hindi, Nepalese, Bengali, Punjabi, Chinese, Pushto and many more,” Jennifer said.
Jennifer adds that the new order of work does add an inevitable mental toll on her as she has to practice strict distancing, while geared with PPE and be vigilant all the time.
Jennifer thanks her family as she comes from a few generations of healthcare workers, and they understand the job and its toll it might have on a frontline worker.
“Working with this new rule does take a toll on me mentally, and, being a frontline worker, it comes with the job, but I am blessed to live in a household where four generations live together, and I come from a family of health care professionals.
“So, the love and support is amazing when I go home and at our clinic all our staff is like family, as vulnerable as I feel at times, it is nice to have that support from work and home,” Jennifer adds.
As a frontline worker, Jennifer appeals the community that although the lockdown is near its end, and the nation will soon stream into Alert Level 3, people should still take utmost precaution, stay home, wash hands, make only essential travels and help the nation to fight against this war of Covid-19.