COM Outlook Summer/Fall 2020

NOVA SOUTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY | 21 First-Person Perspectives T here is a large group of people who have given their all to help heal and protect one of the most vulnerable populations—nursing home residents. The hard work started early. In one of the facilities my family works with, a COVID-19 outbreak was being fought and contained. The first COVID-19 patient arrived unannounced to undergo rehab after being sent from the hospital. The transfer happened before Florida’s governor ordered manda- tory screening of COVID-19 patients from hospitals prior to transfer—and when tests for the virus were not yet available. As a result, the patient went unnoticed until symptoms began emerging. Luckily, this nursing home features facilities that are main- tained by separate staff members during the outbreak. Because of this precaution, other buildings on campus remained free from the outbreak. The surrounding community had been supportive of the health care staff members, knowing that they were doing their best to prevent the spread of the outbreak. However, on April 24, the names of the nursing homes that had positive tests were released. The first call was from the husband of a coworker I’ll call Jane. His boss saw the news and found the nursing home community on the list. The spouse couldn’t return to work until they both had nega- tive tests, even though Jane never worked in the building that had the outbreak or encountered someone who was exposed. The wider community took notice. A friend changed the grocery store he shopped at to avoid contact with anyone from the nursing home. Another coworker had a real estate agent take a few steps back when he found out where she worked. A patient in a different building had a doctor’s appointment canceled by the office. A nearby takeout restaurant banned campus workers from entering the building. Soon, staff members started taking off their name tags when they left. That way, others wouldn’t enforce extra social distancing on them. During this outbreak, we’ve celebrated the nurses, doctors, and staff members at our hospitals who have done their best to treat the flood of COVID-19 patients. Yet, there is a group that has been forgotten—the nurses and staff members of nursing homes who are taking care of our most vulnerable patients. They have been tasked with keeping a highly contagious disease contained in facilities that are built like homes. But instead of being celebrated, they’ve been treated like lepers. To those working at nursing homes, thank you for the risks you take every day to ensure the care for those who need it most. Joseph Petkiewicz is a second-year KPCOM student. BY JOSEPH PETKIEWICZ A Note About Nursing Home Workers ADVOCATE Joseph Petkiewicz