ICU Team, Thammasat University Hospital, working amidst the increasingly severe COVID situation. How do the medical personnel of the ICU Team feel?
In this situation where COVID-19 has spread throughout Thailand, the number of daily infections has exceeded ten thousand, and there are daily deaths, in addition to the pressure on the people in their daily lives, frontline personnel such as doctors, nurses, and all relevant officials have to work day and night.
As the days go by, the disease becomes more and more severe. From the previous episodes, everyone must have seen the work and dedication of all personnel in various work processes. In this episode, the admin will take everyone to see the work of the ICU team at Thammasat University Hospital. How their work is different from a normal ICU, how they had to adjust their work, and how they feel about sacrificing so much by choosing to work in such a risky job.
Difference between normal ICU and COVID-19 ICU
ICU work Normally, personnel can approach patients directly, touch them closely, or examine their symptoms in detail. When an emergency occurs, personnel can reach patients quickly. However, the COVID-19 ICU requires at least 10 minutes to put on PPE to care for patients. They cannot touch patients directly. They must focus on observation. They must also prepare and plan well to use the appropriate time to see each patient.
“Let’s count to 1 together here.”
Ms. Thannalak Tathong, a professional nurse in critical care for burns and scalds (Mekhasawan), who is one of the nurses on the COVID-19 ICU team, said that she used to work in the cardiac intensive care unit. When she started working here, it was like she had to start learning everything new, learning along with her seniors and juniors who also worked here, whether it was about cases, types of patients, access, dressing, or even having to plan before every shift and prioritize work before approaching each patient in order to use the most appropriate amount of time.
Patient Access Procedures
All personnel must change into PPE or PAPR suits to take care of patients. Before entering, they must enter the Empty room with negative pressure of 5 and then enter the patient room with negative pressure of 10. In the normal office, there will be a positive pressure of 10 because the different pressure makes it safe to spread the infection. After completing their duties, all personnel must walk out the back of the room to change clothes and take a shower before returning to work on other assigned duties. If there is no emergency, everyone will be assigned to take care of patients once a day. The first round will enter at 10 a.m. and leave at around noon. The second round will enter at around 1 p.m. and leave at 2 to 3 p.m.
“We” will take the best care of you.
There is an example of an emergency where a 2-day-old baby was lying on an oxygen tube, causing insufficient oxygen. The nurse quickly put on her PPE and prepared herself to quickly resolve the situation. The baby’s mother was infected with COVID-19, but the results of the baby’s treatment were still inconclusive, so she was kept in the ICU for observation and testing every 24 hours for safety reasons.
Concerns about working with risk
Working in the COVID-19 ICU team requires close contact with patients who have been confirmed to be infected with COVID-19. In addition, most patients who are transferred to the ICU are red patients or patients with severe symptoms. Therefore, treating or accessing patients means risks that all personnel must take. But everyone is still working to the fullest and with the utmost willingness so that everyone can return home healthy again.
“The anxiety is gone because I feel good that the patient is being taken care of.”
Of course, the staff also have families to take care of, just like all patients. Ms. Thannalak Tathong revealed that when she first started working here, her family was just as worried as she was because there was an increased risk of infection. However, her family understood and always encouraged her. Even though they were worried, her family was also very proud of her.
“We came to help others. It’s good that we came to help.”
Not only do we manage our own concerns, but we also manage the concerns of our patients.
Since every patient is often anxious, whether it is about their family, whether they will get infected or not, whether they will recover or not, or whether they will not die, nurses must take care of the patients’ “body, mind, society, and spirit”. They must always encourage them, give advice, and ask about their needs, such as how they feel, whether they are stressed, whether they need anything more, whether they want to talk to anyone in their family, etc.
Peacock Special Ward 1
From the beginning, the special ward Yuang Thong 1 was a special room with 15 rooms for taking care of normal convalescing patients. It has been transformed into an Isolation Room or a separate room for taking care of COVID-19 patients, which will be divided into 5 double-bed rooms and 10 single-bed rooms. There will be physical examinations and lung scans to measure the severity of the patient’s symptoms. The special ward Yuang Thong 1 will accept patients with mild to moderate symptoms. If the examination shows severe symptoms, they will be sent to the ICU team instead. If the symptoms are very mild and there is no lung infection, the patient will be sent to the field hospital instead.
Nursing System Adaptation
Normally, we are close to patients. In terms of patient care in the special ward at Yuang Thong 1, we have changed to care via CCTV. Nurses will sit and watch the monitor screen to follow up on patients’ symptoms. There is communication and asking about symptoms via the LINE application, which the doctors will also use to talk to patients. And every time they have to access a patient, they have to wear a PPE suit and manage their nursing duties for the patient to the best of their ability in the tightest possible time.
Conclusion
On a day when Thailand is facing a serious COVID-19 crisis, it shows that everyone is trying their best to help each other. Everyone is doing their best. It’s not just medical personnel who have to change, but we can do it too. If we are ordinary people, we can help by wearing masks, taking care of ourselves, getting vaccinated, and encouraging the medical team who are working their best to help all patients. Losing is something that no one wants to happen. Therefore, at this time, we should encourage each other and get through this difficult moment together.
“We will all survive this crisis together.”
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Follow the story behind the crisis and the actions of medical personnel at Thammasat University Hospital in dealing with the COVID situation in the program Unmask Story, stories behind the masks of medical personnel at Thammasat University Hospital.
ICU Team | Thammasat University Hospital
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COVID-19 vaccine and the mission to create herd immunity at Thammasat University Hospital
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