When Passion Meets Sacrifice: a casual COVID-19 convo

The Identity Project; a My Why Podcast

My Why would like to thank the Lloydminster Region Health Foundation for sponsoring this podcast. More information available after the show notes on how you can get involved in the Lloydminster Region Health Foundation. Melissa is a Registered Nurse and Manager literally at the forefront of the COVID-19 crisis in Phoenix, Arizona. Melissa is originally from Canada and received her Bachelor of Nursing in 2000. She spent the next 5 years travelling around the US as a travel Nurse, from New Mexico to California to Arizona before settling down in Phoenix Arizona. Currently, she is the Manager of a pulmonary unit in a large hospital and with this current global pandemic, she has had to make some extreme shifts in her personal and professional life. During this Coronavirus Pandemic, Melissa’s unit has been designated to care for the COVID-19 positive patients. The My Why team sits down with Melissa to discuss. 2:00- Melissa talks about why she went into nursing and how her passion evolved 3:50- Melissa talks about the changes in her unit as the adjusts the hospital adjusts to the influx of COVID-19 patients 7:35- Melissa discusses Personal Protective Equipment for her hospital (PPE) 8:15- N95 and surgical masks are discussed 9:15- Jessie asks Melissa to talk about delivering the news that her staff on the unit would be responsible for caring for COVID-19 positive patients 11:00- Melissa shares her views on the virus and how they have changed as a healthcare professional 13:10- Kristen asks Melissa to share what the staff is feeling and what it is like to work and manage a unit designated to patients testing positive to COVID-19 18:00- The women discuss how the staff is coming together and the community is rallying around healthcare professionals in the face of these challenges 19:30- Symptoms of COVID-19 that Melissa is seeing are discussed 22:30- Discuss how there is no evidence-based medication or treatment that is proven for COVID-19 and what is possible in the future for clinical studies and trials 25:00-Melissa talks about census and how the status of patients are changing all the time 28:00- Jessie asks Melissa about her thought on the media's influence 26:00- Politics and large group congregations are discussed 30:00- Kristen asked Melissa to discuss what personal sacrifices she has made 28:40- Melissa talks about not seeing her daughter for weeks and her staff not being able to see family 31:00- Media in America is discussed while social distancing and how we can be more mindful of our actions to prevent the transmission of Coronavirus 33:50- gloves and surgical masks for the general population are discussed 36:00- Healthcare professionals and mental health are discussed. The women talk about nursing as a calling however it can be draining on mental health... 37:00- Melissa discusses her "Why's" during this global pandemic 43:00- Melissa talks about what makes her hopeful for the future The Lloydminster Region Health Foundation would like to thank our local healthcare team who responded so quickly to the COVID-19 Pandemic. Our local hospital leaders moved fast to secure life-saving supplies for our frontline staff and within days our hospital had a strong stock of life- saving supplies from the local community. This happened because of you, our donors. Thanks to the strong support from all our donors over many years, our frontline workers are empowered to care for all of us through the Lloydminster Region Health Foundation. If you are looking for ways to help, a COVID-19 Emergency Fund has been started. While there is no pressure to give in these uncertain times, we are taking donations to cover various items that have already been purchased and still need to be purchased including: - Personal Protective Equipment - iPads for isolated residents and patients - Care Packages for Staff - Optiflow Machines - Food, Coffee and Meals for Staff - Room Monitors - Mobile Carts and Shelves for