Sep 27, 2021 | Grit
Working in healthcare as an Occupational Therapist, during a pandemic, has been quite an experience. Back in March 2020, I was taking a temporary full-time position (away from my full time position in mental health) at the Residential Rehab and Complex Medical Care (CMC) programs. At the time, Residential Rehab started discharging clients, due to the pandemic restrictions, and I was sent to Emara CMC 3 South full time. I was to travel the week of March Break to Florida for a course in Vestibular Rehabilitation but decided to cancel, which ended up being a wise decision as travel restrictions were being put into place. Being of Italian decent, and having a lot of family in Italy, I was well informed of what was happening there and started taking precautions for my family’s health in the case that Canada would fall into similar circumstances. At the time, my children were ages 3, 6 and 7. Since my parents were my full-time child care providers and have underlying health issues as well as advanced age, my husband and I made, what we believed to be the best decision with the knowledge we had of COVID-19, to bring my children to live full time with my parents. On March 16, the day of my birthday, I spent the evening packing my children’s clothing and essential belongings. The next morning on my way to work, I dropped my three daughters, and their packed belongings, off to my parents. In the coming months, I only saw them from the window and doorway. It was difficult for them to understand why mom and dad were not bringing them home. Upcoming celebrations and holidays were canceled and not spent together. Life was different and my once busy home was quiet and depressing. When the weather warmed, it was nice to be able to see my girls in my parents’ back yard. It was hard to explain to young children why they could not come within six feet of mom and dad and why we could not accept their embraces. One particular day, when we were on an outdoor visit, my youngest was running around and fell to the ground. She began to cry and started for me in hopes for me to pick her up and comfort her. She was stunned when I pulled back shaking my head telling her she could not come near. My mother had to pick her up to console her. It was heartbreaking. The daily drive to work from Leamington to Windsor was almost eerie. There were always scarce cars on the road. The first few weeks at HDGH were very surreal. Fellow staff members weren’t themselves. Emotions were all over the place and the wonder of the unknown of what may come was always present. Physio and Occupational Therapy moved into patient rooms. Gowning, visors and double masking while providing rehab sessions was trying. Schools and daycares closed. Staff that were returning from time out of the country were required to self quarantine, so staffing was short. The once bustling halls were almost quiet. Visitors could not come see their loved ones; the affliction that this caused on both inpatients and their family members was so easily seen. It was beautiful to see staff pull together to be the best healthcare providers they could be while at the same time the emotional support for the inpatients. The staff worked so well together through this with incredible dedication. Pandemic pay, although a great show of acknowledgment, the dispersal of funds by the government, fell short in truly capturing all of the essential workers. Despite the feeling of being left out, we all supported one another and pushed forward. Staff completed duties outside their normal rolls to help where needed. I remember changing many adult briefs and helping patients toilet. I had a newfound appreciation for all the work nurses and other staff do. In May of 2020, I was able to return to my regular position on the Assertive Community Treatment Team. For those unfamiliar with the program, ACT is a model indicated for adults with severe and persistent mental illness and is comprised of a multidisciplinary team whom see clients in office, at their home and within the community. Another program that was normally very busy, had an uncanny quietness due to the pause put on groups and activities available to our clients. Community Service such as Canadian Mental Health Association programing and Mental Health Connections, were deemed non-essential and shut down. These services were critical in maintaining wellness in our client population. Because of this, these duties fell to ACT to problem solve as so much of these coping techniques were taken away from our clients. During the beginning days of the COVID-19 pandemic, ACT had the most admissions and discharges it has had in the program’s history. The team was required to adjust how clients would be seen. The telephone and the Ontario Telemedicine Network (OTN) had to take over many client-worker meetings that were traditionally done in person both in office and in the community. Staff did an amazing job in adjusting the methods in treating clientele with their increasing anxieties and mental health needs. Beyond all this, the ACT nurses had to taken on extra duties at the Isolation Recovery Centre (IRC ) to administer methadone to the city’s residents that were isolating at the hotel with known and suspected COVID diagnosis. The staff teased that downtown Windsor looked apocalyptic. There were scarcely anyone on the streets. We laughed as some staff reported seeing wild turkeys in our downtown Ouellette parking lot and city sidewalks. Transit Windsor was temporarily non operational. Businesses were closed and no one had anywhere to go, so the normally busy downtown streets were bare. The exception was seeing the daily long line of people in que to get into the COVID-19 testing centre, which could be seen from the ACT office window. Because we see our clients predominantly in the community, staff found it very difficult to find washrooms to use while seeing clients throughout the county. We are sometimes all day in the community. Without the children home, I spent my home time sewing masks and making ear savers. Because stores were closed, and I had difficulty finding buttons to make traditional ear savers, I had to come up with something from my crafting supplies. That is when I came up with the "Mask Hero" elastic and snap ear saver style. Staff I brought them to loved them so I began listing them on my Etsy page and they really took off and received fantastic reviews. My goal was to make enough money to take my family (the girls who were temporarily living with my parents to keep everyone safe) to Disney. Just over a year later, I have a patent pending on them and have sold and donated over 25,000. This pandemic started off with tons of stress and lost family time but now my daughters help me each night process and ship orders and are learning how to run a home business.The girls did return home mid May 2020 when my husband was able to temporarily work from home. The uncertainty of school being open and closed to in-class learning has been one of the greatest stresses as a working mom. When schools were open, I have been very happy that HDGH has allowed me leave of absence at the end of the day, during the school year, so that I am able to go home to get my children off the bus, keeping them away from their grandparents who had not yet been vaccinated. As a healthcare worker, I understood the need for the school closures and need to move to online learning, however, because women generally tend to take on more of the responsibilities of child rearing, teaching the children, as well as other family responsibilities, this really penalized women and set them back generations. Mothers were paying a large career penalty during this pandemic. Sadly this was my truth. It was necessary for me to take all afternoon shifts so that I could be home to assist with online learning during the day. Overall, like many others, this has been a stressful year. COVID-19 has taught many that life is precious and that family and friends matters most. I have learned to slow down and appreciate this. Never take trips, family time and health for granted. The kids are very much looking forward to that Disney trip that we are hoping to take as soon at it is safe to do so.