By Albert Celoza
Phoenix, Az- World-wide more than 2.5 million lives have perished due to the Covid-19 pandemic. This deadly disease has claimed more than 510 thousand American lives. More Americans have died of Covid-19 compared to all other countries as of the end of February 2021. (More Americans succumbed to Covid compared to all the casualties of the Second World War, Korea and Vietnam combined.)
Filipino medical professionals are in the forefront of the battle against Covid but more so are Filipino nurses. The National Nurses United estimated that by August 2020 at least 193 registered nurses in the U.S. have died of COVID-19 and related complications and the numbers are likely to be undercounted because many deaths aren’t publicly reported. Tragically about 30 percent were Filipinos.
Filipinos have the great reputation of caring culture and this is expressed in the reliance of hospitals for Filipino physicians, nurses, and other medical professionals. In fact, there are several medical practitioners in their households and extended families. The influence of family and relatives has inspired young Phoenix resident Breanna Lumba to pursue nursing.
“ I originally wanted to become a nurse because I was inspired by so many of my ninangs and titas who were nurses before me! I knew that the profession would always be in need of people willing to help and take care of others, and the many different areas of nursing always interested me.” A career in nursing provides so many opportunities to help patients and families in need, and “I have always felt a calling that this was what I was meant to do.”
She pursued nursing education graduated with my Bachelor of Science in Nursing cum laude (with honors) from Grand Canyon University in 2019. She was a part of GCU’s accelerated 16-month BSN program at their Boswell Campus. It was vigorous and challenging at times where students deal one-on-one time with professors and clinical leads. She was also able to have clinical experience at many different Arizona hospitals and she did her Nursing Residency at Honor Health Scottsdale Shea in the Neonatal ICU. This nine-week experience working with high-risk infants showed her that this was an area she wanted to work after graduation.
Like Breanna many other nurses before her heeded the calling of helping people. In February CNN featured the story of Rachel Ellsworth for whom nursing was more than a career. Ellsworth was an indefatigable intensive care nurse for 10 of her 12 years in nursing. “I was the kind of person who went into work every day, like, literally, ‘Let’s go save lives,’ for 12 years” she said. “I was just so excited to be there, so full of hope and compassion.” (https://www.cnn.com/2021/02/25/us/nurses-quit-hospitals-covid-pandemic-trnd/index.html
When the pandemic began in spring 2020, nurse Rachel Ellsworth’s commitment was tested. The pressures of the pandemic have affected everybody especially those in the forefront of patient care. Countries were placed on lock down and people’s movements were limited. Schools, churches, restaurants, stores, and other necessities of daily life were curtailed. Cultural amenities and gathering places like concerts, sports events, movies were cancelled as people have to safely distanced in to curb the spread of the virus. There has been a resurgence of violence to the self and others. These radical changes have also caused isolation depression and intense stress and anxiety
With the spread of infection, hospitals say as great spike in Covid-19 patients. In the US, there were 28.5 million Covid cases and 113 million world-wide. The stress for nurses was magnified by the lack of proper equipment, cancellation of personal time and vacation, and having to work additional shifts. More drastically the pressure was increased by dramatic need for critical care of patients. For twenty years American nurses were voted the most trusted professionals; now their mental health and physical well-being are also threatened including their families. While the health care system can’t afford to lose them, the pandemic stresses led nurse Ellsworth and others to quit their jobs after many years of service. These nurses were still overcome with guilt about leaving their jobs even if they knew their decision was the right one.
“The mental-health impact this is going to have on nurses … I don’t think we’ve even scratched the surface of it yet,” Nurse Ellsworth said.
For Asian (including Filipinos) medical personnel, prejudice and hate crimes were aggravating factors.
(Asian American doctors and nurses are fighting racism and the coronavirus
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/05/19/asian-american-discrimination/
While others were leaving nursing, Nurse Breanna Lumba was just starting her career. She completed the National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX), a nationwide examination for the licensing of nurses in the United States, Canada and Australia. She accepted a position as nurse at Dignity Health St. Joseph’s Hospital and trained how to be awell-organized, personable and efficient nurse.
She said that “one of the major challenges for many nurses, and especially other new graduates was simply being overworked. With many Covid patients taking up hospital beds, regular patients who didn’t have Covid were being moved to units not equipped for care. For example, when working on my observation floor, many of the nurses were used to patients staying just one night. However, with the pandemic, many of us were assigned with multiple high acuity patients. With the task load of an observation unit and high acuity, many nurses were getting burnt out.”
She continued that “the lack of PPE [personnel protective equipment] in the beginning was rough for many nurses and myself resorted to bringing in our own cloth masks which many of us would make at home. Many were scared to go home to families. Changing in the parking lot or in our garages became normal after a few months.”
CDC [Center for Disease Control and Prevention] guidance and policies were changing daily thus, the need to juggle roles and adapt to changes. From the patient’s point of view however many were very forgiving; they knew many of us were exhausted and they were thankful for our care. No one knew what to expect, we simply showed up and hoped that we wouldn’t be exposed each shift.”
What were some of the coping/adaptive mechanisms or adjustments or changes?
For many nurses we simply learned to be flexible. For others and I, we come into work expecting change! One day it was one policy to follow, then the next it was different. At the end of the day, many of us just want to stay healthy and protect our patients and ourselves.
“I noticed a peak in collaboration between nurses. Team nursing was encouraged and helping those who we noticed had a heavier workload became normal. Everyone knew everyone else was tired as well, but if we all worked together, many things could get done.
“In regard to covid, promoting cluster care was huge on the unit. Bringing everything you could possibly need in an isolation room in order to prevent multiple contacts was encouraged. The implementation of resource nurses was used. This nurse would simply go across the unit helping nurses who needed items while in a covid room. This allowed for us to save PPE and eliminate multiple staff in infected rooms.
“Being able and open to work with others was a skill that was needed to stay sane and prevent nurse burn out. We all feel it, but we are there to encourage that these patients need us and that we could get through shifts together.”
How did you maintain positive attitude or motivation? Breanna said she “maintained a good, positive attitude by bonding with my other coworkers. With Covid, not many people could or would hang out with a nurse in fear of being exposed. But talking to nurses on the unit or on breaks helped me to feel less alone and gave me a sense of “we’re all in this together.”
“Being a nurse in my first year of nursing in a worldwide pandemic is as scary as it sounds. But I knew I was never alone when things went downhill with a patient. Nurses are family and are truly bonded over our similar experiences. And simply being around others who understand kept myself positive and in a good head space.”
“Motivation came from my patients. I know they needed me to care for them when others wouldn’t. Seeing them get discharged after days of being super sick is a feeling that will never get old. Knowing I made even a small impact in someone’s life keeps me going every day.”
Nurse Breanna now works as a Labor and Delivery nurse at St. Joe’s where she is responsible for the care for high-risk mothers and infants.
“During their time on my unit, my job is to entail that mothers labor safely and babies are delivered with best and careful care. After transitioning mother and baby through the first couple hours of life, I am able to take my patients down to postpartum where they begin their new journey as a family with a newborn!”
With Covid-19, the hospital and labor process looks a little different, but I am so lucky to be one of the few people in delivery rooms that help welcome babies into the world.”
For comments, please send them to
DrCeloza@gmail.com
For comments about compassion, dealing with challenges and caring for the self and others, please send your stories to:
Albert Celoza, Student, CCare @Stanford Medicine Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education
