Nurses

SN Saguntala Devi, Day Surgery Suite
SN Estee Kristine B. Cantos, Endoscopy Suite

Staff Nurse Saguntala Devi and Staff Nurse Estee Kristine B. Cantos are both surgical nurses with little experience about working in the wards but their lives changed when the COVID-19 pandemic struck. With an increased demand for more ward nurses to help care for COVID-19 patients, surgical nurses in Farrer Park Hospital were activated and trained within a tight timeline to be ward-ready.

When asked if there were any difference between being a surgical nurse and ward nurse, both Staff Nurse Devi and Staff Nurse Estee exclaimed yes.

“As surgical nurses, we only see patients in the operating theatre during their operation. It is different in the wards as we have to interact with them, serve them food and care for them,” explained Staff Nurse Devi.

Another change Staff Nurse Estee brought up was the shift work that they had to take up. “There was no shift work for surgical nurses but working in the COVID-19 wards required us to take on 12-hour shifts, including night shifts.”

Life as a COVID-19 ward nurse includes the checking of patients’ vital signs as well as conducting test swabs regularly until they are virus-free and given the all-clear to be discharged. Safety protocols and infection control measures are in place to ensure contact with infected patients keep to a minimum.

“It was really stressful at first because we only had one week of training before actual operations. During that week, we had dry runs from all-day long and had to learn how to operate ward systems fast and accurately. We felt pressured as it was new for many of us but thankfully, all the training and dry runs paid off. Today, I can safely say that we are all experts,” laughed Staff Nurse Devi.

Another challenge these nurses had to overcome was the language barrier. As most COVID-19 patients were foreign workers, they did not understand English much.

Touching on this, Staff Nurse Devi shared: “Before every test swab or check-up, we have to inform patients what we are about to do. Our Doctors emphasized how important this was and reminded us to not leave the room (ward) until the patients understood everything.”

“This was made even more difficult because we are all geared up in full personal protective equipment (PPE). Our actions were limited and speech restricted. We would often leave the room perspiring buckets after attending to each patient,” added Staff Nurse Devi.

When asked for their honest thoughts on their role as a nurse during this pandemic, both Staff Nurse Devi and Staff Nurse Estee smiled and said that they had no regrets.

While Staff Nurse Estee revealed she was hesitant at first, she had no regrets. “To be honest, I was quite hesitant and scared to take up the role initially because there is no known vaccine or cure for the virus. But today, I have no regrets. Singapore is my second home. There is nothing more meaningful than seeing the patients I cared for discharged and go home to their family safely.”

“When I told my 82-year-old landlord that I’ll be caring for COVID-19 patients, he showed me support and cheered me on. However, his children was afraid that I would bring the virus home. There was once when my landlord whipped up a feast for their monthly family dinner but his children refused to come over because of me. I felt really bad and sorry but my landlord never blamed me. In fact, he remained supportive of my work and would continue to cook for my sister and I. For this, I’m very thankful,” revealed Staff Nurse Devi.