My goodness, the time does drag and fly simultaneously! Hello, mermaids...so happy to find you in here, connecting and sharing. The book titles had me giggling! And who doesn't love the snow monkeys? All I can see is the water when I look at them, and think, "You lucky little primates." I would kill for a swim! Is anyone else seizing up due to lack of their preferred form of exercise? We walk and bike, but my first love is swimming. A local chef did a couple of virtual belly-dancing classes, which were fab.
I have been furloughed from the hospital since early April. I am an "As needed" or PRN/Casual call staff member, meaning I fill in for vacations, etc but have no guaranteed hours/no benefits/higher wage. I had been working 2-3 shifts per week. Most hospitals in the US halted all elective/non-urgent surgical & clinic visits in order to conserve PPE & avoid exposing those patients to COVID pts, as there is evidence of horizontal transmission in hospital settings. This means a ton of employees were sidelined, going from full-time wages/hours to nothing. So, the hospital temporarily cut all PRN staff to better utilize those people.
I must say, I felt better working, a lot less anxiety! I'm thankful for my other job w/the medical device company, and have 4 more studies to prepare; they have also shut down all their research for the summer, and that means my job is on hold, too. I hate not being useful; it takes a toll. I've signed up to be cross-trained into ICU as a team nurse, but I haven't heard about that.
We currently have 8 COVID patients in ICU. A large cluster of cases has been identified from a meat-packing plant in town. This business was deemed essential; however, it's staffed with many immigrants, some are quite ill now. We're finding out they were rewarded with bonuses to come to work, even though the workers were raising questions about their safety/work conditions. Some who were ill, but needed their paycheck, slid past a fever checkpoint through a side door. They have over 700 cases, including family members. So many feelings about this! One of my nurse buddies is tending to a family from Somalia; mom and dad are both ill (mom is bedridden) & they have 3 little kids. Many unintended consequences from people staying home, the economy at a standstill, and essential workers falling ill.
I wish I could engage more in here, or read, or climb out of my head. The bottom line is that we are damn lucky in this house; we are healthy, with food and paychecks. Our kids are old enough to fend for themselves (THANKFULLY ) I think about the mermaids, all tucked away in our various towns. I think about solitude; such a funny beast, right? This cracked me up:
From Dee I went into work today, spent the day with twenty people, kids and colleagues, and I feel utterly exhausted. This is not just normal work exhaustion. It’s so overwhelming! I’m amazed how quickly we get used to not seeing people, a kind of gentle solitude amidst family. Then suddenly so many people!
How true! You kind of fold into yourself & I think we can be quite content. I'm not a very good wife/mom right now. Maybe a virtual flamenco lesson will draw me out!! I don't care if it's the middle of the night; I will join...
I look forward to better days for our world; so many people engulfed in sorrow. I'll be so relieved to get busy taking care of patients; it's agony to know other cities are just drowning in cases & here I sit like moldy fruit. Have a wonderful day, ladies! I hope you realize how much you're all loved and missed by me.
I have been furloughed from the hospital since early April. .
I suppose it's our different medical systems that mean we have a quite a different approach, with staff being redeployed as soon as necessary and finding themselves in wherever the need is . Last year med students have had their electives cancelled so that they can take up whatever positions are needed in the NHS to release staff into ICU; some of Kasia's year group (penultimate medics) have volunteered to also go into hospital in whatever capacity and there has been a campaign to get retired doctors and nurses back to temporarily help with the crisis - to "STAND UP for the NHS". Kasia has applied to help in one of our local hospitals - Papworth - which until now was a specialist heart and lung hospital - now it has been turned into a centre for Covid 19.
Like the US all elective and non-urgent surgery has been cancelled - so there is a much increased capacity for ICU patients in all hospitals.
PPE is an issue and there are some amusing pictures of medical staff in all sort of patterned scrubs as volunteers make them up from donated material.
The impact in hospitals varies greatly here as I'm sure it must there - London is under real pressure, but some other places are still enjoying the calm before the storm and waiting...
I understand your feelings of wanting to be useful - I volunteered for a scheme called NHS responders; it covered a variety of tasks - community responders who helped out with shopping and stuff for the vulnerable; drivers for patients; check and chat for the old and lonely, and those willing to deliver prescriptions or drive supplies around for the NHS. They were overwhelmed with responses and told me to apply again when they re-opened the scheme.
One thing's for sure NR you could never be described as mouldy fruit - oh no.
You are a woman of substance.
Here's something for you to imagine - hopefully it helps!!!
Good to hear from you, Mz NR... and sorry you’re feeling frustrated and “mouldy”... this situation is certainly terribly confusing. It’s impossible to make sense of it, or predict how it will unfold, and that’s very unsettling. Wanting to be useful and then turned down- that’s always difficult.
I guess the time comes amidst all this madness when we just need to turn our attention to our home and ourselves, and think about all the things we can still do, as opposed to the things we can’t. Then suddenly the lockdown can appear like a bit of an unexpected gift of time to spend on what we please.
I went through an initial phase of immense frustration and grief, then reached some acceptance and grounding, and began to enjoy certain freedoms and the slow pace of the new world. I feel we better make most of the good things that’s come out of this crisis and find ways of carrying them over when we return to “normal”. If we can manage to carry this deeper compassion and appreciation, we will be able to cope better and together with all the economic fallout of this crisis.
It’s crazy how different our experiences are during this pandemic. The losses, sacrifices, the benefits... we are all affected in a myriad of different ways. I certainly consider myself one of the lucky ones. But it appears to me that even people who are hit hardest by the crisis are learning amazing life lessons from their experiences. It’s ever do humbling to hear about it all. I sincerely hope we will emerge from this as an overall better version of humankind.
Things to love about this virus crisis is that it's humanised figures in the public eye: we see them in their homes, in their leisure clothes, with their children, their pets... and we have the space and time to get to find out things about people. This made me smile from ear to ear. A BBC weatherman taking to his drums at the end of the newsreel to play along the theme tune:
I love to see the different sides of people like the weatherman; the way there are hidden depths to people we see in the same way until something shows you a whole other aspect!!!! Fantastic.
I'm doing another course on FutureLearn, on 'Exploring Play'. This is where I've come across this little film about this amazing young lad, Caine, who has created his own arcade out of cardboard boxes. It's a sweet little film about him.
) I think about the mermaids, all tucked away in our various towns. I think about solitude; such a funny beast, right? This cracked me up: 
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