Covid-19 outbreak

As some of you already know, the facility where I have worked as a CNA for the past year recently had a Covid outbreak. Finding out that some residents tested positive was devastating but even then I had no idea what the following weeks would entail. I cannot post many details for privacy reasons, nor do I want to out of respect to our residents, the residents families and our facility. But these past weeks have been some of the most stressful weeks of my life. I have had the privilege of caring for our covid positive residents during the nights (almost every night, I worked for 18 days in a row at one point!) and while I am grateful that I am able to be with them during this difficult time it is so stressful trying to care for all these ill residents at once. They are scared, sad, confused, lonely and in pain. Some just feel a little sick while others are worried that they are going to die, like the resident that told me a few days ago, "I don't think I'm going to make it."

One thing I hate the most about my job is finding out that a resident has died alone, this week I have walked in and found three separate residents passed away. The sadness I've felt knowing that they died alone and knowing that I was the last person to be with them is so much to deal with. These are people that I cared about deeply and have many memories with.

One thing I hear often is that Covid isn't a big deal because most people don't die from it, and most that do are old or sick and would have died anyways. While it's true that Covid has a low death rate and that older people, and people with pre-existing medical conditions are more likely to die or become severely ill from it, the way these people are dieing is horrible and to put it simply, it wasn't there time to go yet.

Many people would still be here today if we had been more careful. So please, I'm begging you, wear a mask and social distance as much as you can, stay home if you're able to!! Do your part to save lives.

Also, don't forget to take care of yourself in the process! I know how difficult that has been during this pandemic! Hopefully we'll have a solution soon!!

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