NATIONAL NURSING WEEK
8 WINNIPEG FREE PRESS - SATURDAY, MAY 8, 2021
cna-aiic.ca MAY 6-12, 2019 NATIONAL NURSING WEEK cna-aiic.ca MAY 10-16, 2021 A Vision For Future Healthcare #W e A nswer T he C all FRONTLINE ON THE HOMEFRONT CARING FOR LOVED ONES OR STRANGERS, PATIENTS ARE AT THE HEART OF EVERYTHING NURSES DO Your leadership makes a difference every day. Share your story @canadanurses #VoiceToLead #IND2019 & #NationalNursingWeek
BY ESTEFANIA WUJKIW F or Rosemarie Oertel, nursing is a way of life. In the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, while working at Manitoba’s largest hospital, Health Sciences Centre Winnipeg, she cared for some of the sickest patients in the province.
At home, as a caregiver to family members, Rosemarie found herself delivering care to loved ones who tested positive for COVID-19. As a general duty nurse in GA4, a 30-bed adult medicine clinical teaching unit at HSC, she works with a multidisciplinary team to provide round-the-clock care to patients who have multiple chronic illnesses and life-threatening conditions. When COVID-19 arrived in Manitoba last year, Rosemarie and her colleagues across the province stepped forward, delivering care with compassion, professionalism and dedication, while facing their very own fears about the virus. “As health-care providers, I think one of our biggest fears has
been catching and spreading COVID-19 to our patients at work and to our loved ones at home,” Rosemarie says. “We have all been so careful, changing our behaviours and at times distancing ourselves from family members in our own homes to reduce the chance of taking COVID-19 home.” In November 2020, Manitoba experienced the height of COVID-19’s second wave, high case numbers and increasing hospitalizations. Like many working Manitobans, Rosemarie and another member of her household were dealing with outbreaks at their workplaces during this time. To protect each other, they implemented strict practices that included washing clothes separately, disinfecting the washer and dryer between uses, dining in different rooms, and using separate bathrooms. Despite their best efforts, when the family member tested positive for COVID-19, it wasn’t long before another member of the household — Rosemarie’s senior mother — began showing symptoms, and soon tested positive. While Rosemarie did not — and has not since — tested positive, she once again stepped forward, taking a leave from work to dedicate herself to caring for her family members. Drawing from her nursing skills and experiences, Rosemarie took every precaution, bought her own supplies, set up a personal protective equipment station outside of her new “patient” rooms, and developed a comprehensive care plan. “I felt the weight of responsibility for my mom’s health outcome — just as all nurses do with their patients. It didn’t necessarily take the apprehension away, but I realized I was not alone, and I was not powerless,” she says. Rosemarie’s mother, herself a former nurse, performed her own vital-sign assessments and yelled the numbers through the door. “When she started to feel less energetic, I went in and did the checks myself. As a nurse, I still felt the urge to physically see her, but I was holding off because of the isolation factor,” Rosemarie says. “I set up a baby monitor with a camera and intercom — little did I know that I would be doing virtual care within my own home.”
Both family members recovered on their own and Rosemarie soon returned to work, providing patient care in hospital. “My friends and family took care of me while I was in nursing mode taking care of my family; always monitoring and evaluating how my two ‘patients’ were doing and how we were coping. I am so grateful to have such a strong support system,” she says.
Rosemarie is also quick to acknowledge and praise her supportive team at work.
“The more complex a patient’s needs are, the more health-care professionals needed to help develop and implement individualized care plans,” she says. “Through my clinical, committee, mentorship and research work, I was exposed to the variety of roles, even within nursing, that are represented at HSC. I am just one of the many faces of health care, but I am proud to be counted in the mix.”
Estefania Wujkiw is a senior communications specialist at Health Sciences Centre Winnipeg – Shared Health.
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T Thorvaldson Care Center An Intermediate Care Facility for Seniors 495 Stradbrook Ave. • Winnipeg Please call for more information or to arrange a tour Jocelyn Thorvaldson (204) 452-4044 (weekdays) www. thorcare.ca E-mail: thorcare@shaw.ca Over 60 years of caring for Seniors! ROSEMARIE OERTEL, PHOTOGRAPHED AT A SAFE DISTANCE AT HEALTH SCIENCES CENTRE. PHOTO BY DARCY FINLEY
What does Intermediate Personal Care offer? • 24 hour care / supervision by Health Care Aides • Registered Nurse on-site (weekdays) • Medications, inhalers, eyedrops are administered • Monitored blood sugar / blood pressure • Bloodwork, Xray services • Medical appts / transportation arranged • Assist with bathing (complete assist), dressing, hygiene • Assist with catheters / oxygen • Private, bedsitting room with bathroom • Two nurse call buttons in each suite • Three home-cooked meals per day plus snacks • Housekeeping (daily), Laundry (personal and linens) • Accredited Activity Director & Recreation Programs
Thorvaldson Care Center is a government approved, family owned and operated Intermediate Care facility providing care to seniors since 1959. We offer a moderately sized, non-institutional environment with professional services to meet the needs of those in the later stages of life. ‘Intermediate’ personal care is provided to those who are no longer able to manage/cope in their current living situation due to increasing needs, yet are not quite ready for placement in a Personal Care Home. Thorvaldson Care Center is the only Intermediate Care facility in Manitoba.
Thank you to the hardworking and dedicated Nurses!
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