Nightingale

Its difficult to describe the range of emotions and experiences over the last few days. A “roller coaster” doesn’t even really capture it because that would imply it was one emotion at a time (up or down)! But here goes..

I arrived in London on Friday and met up with my team of 6 scientists (the blue team). Four of them have been working at the Nightingale for 2 weeks already. They are an exceptionally lovely group of people. One of them I knew before (from gait world). Even after working with them for just a few days it already feels like a close and supportive group. We walk over to the hospital and have meals together even when not on shift, which is really nice. It actually feels good to talk to and work with actual people again! The hospital provides free food 24/7 for all staff. We had lunch together then I headed over for my “fit testing” for the face mask. I was told at the start that the masks are one size fits all and nearly everyone is ok with it…. except me it turns out! They tried all sorts of different tactics and I kept failing (they test for air leakage to make sure the mask seals around your face). In the end (2 hours later!) I had to be issued a “special” mask. Apparently I have a …unique… face! Its a bit of a pain because I have to go and get a stock of them before each shift. But on the upside, I was told they are the “rolls royce” of masks! I still got a bruise on the bridge of my nose after wearing them for 12 hours (which looks very attractive!)

It was a bit of a shock walking into the ward for the first time and seeing rows of unconscious patients all on ventilators. Even though I theoretically knew what to expect. Seeing the faces of actual people made it all much more real. I had a brief orientation, then straight into it! Our job seems to involve a whole range of things. Sometimes we are just needed as an extra pair of hands, for example to turn the patients, or to transport them to another area to get a scan or other treatment. Its a bit of a rigmarole to do this, as they are attached to so many different things. Whenever you unplug something from the wall, you have to plug it into the portable replacement really quickly, which is the stressful bit. We also do regular checks of the ventilators and other pieces of equipment, which means every 3 hours going to every bed and checking bits and pieces. I was nervous doing this the first time as you have to get right up close to the patient. One of the things we have to check is the filter on the ventilator which is by their face. It feels weird getting that close to an unconscious patient – I always want to apologise to them! We also change the filters on the ventilators (they fill up with fluid) pretty regularly. Scarily, this involves turning off the ventilator momentarily! The first time I did it, I was holding my breath as well! We also do other maintenance jobs on different pieces of equipment. In between, we often get doctors and nurses coming up to us and asking us to explain or sort something on the ventilators. Its a bit weird being approached and asked about something as if I’m the expert! But there’s plenty of people around to ask if I don’t know. We had one of the doctors come up to us towards the end of our last shift and tell us how great it was to have us on the ward. He said they normally don’t have anyone on site so just have to muddle through or call support and wait for ages. So that was nice to hear!

Wearing full PPE took some getting used to. I felt claustrophobic for the first few hours. It also gets pretty warm inside everything. Full PPE involves scrubs, a full length, long-sleeve gown, hat, mask, gloves and full face visor. If you do anything with a patient, in addition you have to put on another pair of gloves and an apron (which you take off before going to the next patient). When I first put it on, I thought I would never get used to it, and wondered if I could survive 12 hours with it on. But actually, I did, and even at times almost forgot about it. You write your name and job on tape which gets stuck on your visor and the back of your gown. Its just as well, because everyone looks the same when all you can see is their eyes! I’m starting to recognise some people by their gait now too though! Its amazing how quickly you get into the routine of “donning” and “doffing” the PPE. Everything has to go on and off in a set way. Because we have 3 breaks per shift, that’s a lot of donning and doffing!

Shift work has been very disorienting. After the first night shift, I slept really well during the day (on Saturday), to the point that I had to keep convincing my brain that it was evening not morning when I woke up! I even said “morning” to a few people. Because the eating area is open all the time, we have basically been doing breakfast, lunch and dinner on the night shift also. Its all very weird. I never know what I’m supposed to eat! However, I’ve slept very well when I’m not at work… which is normally a problem. Apparently shift work is good for my sleeping patterns!

I still feel like there is lots I don’t know and need to learn. Please pray that I would pick things up quickly and be able to be of real help. I’m thankful for a great team I’m working with. In fact, pretty much all the staff on site are fab. Everyone seems to be aware of looking out for others and being encouraging and helpful. The non-clinical staff (e.g security, catering, etc) are all really great also. Every time you pass someone or get your dinner handed to you etc, they all ask about your shift and how you are doing and say thank you for what we are doing. Its so lovely to be surrounded by that all the time! I’m thankful that I coped ok with the first couple of shifts, but I’m also aware it could be a long road ahead. I don’t know how long I’ll be doing this for. I can imagine over time it could get more and more wearing. We had 3 patients die during my first 2 shifts. You see the screens go up around the bay and you know why! That’s hard to deal with. Its also physically tiring doing such long shifts. We are on our feet pretty much the whole time. Please pray for wisdom in how I use my time between shift blocks. There are still lots of things I could be doing for my regular job. I feel ok at the moment, but aware that I need to pace myself in case this goes on. I’m back on Thursday for my next shift block (2 days then 2 nights).

Thank you for all your prayers. I’m very conscious that God has been answering them. This feels way beyond what I could do or cope with myself, so it is clearly God at work. Please pray that I would continue to rely on him and trust his provision and faithfulness.