"A friend in isolation for Covid-19"

Hi,

A friend of ours has a history of high blood pressure and developed severe headaches, which became quite debilitating and worrying.

After a week of this, they presented to ED in Carnarvon, WA and (after testing negative on the RAT), were admitted.  They had a CT, was down to have a lumbar puncture, and there was talk of getting them to Geraldton for an MRI.  They were admitted overnight as (after fasting all day, which they didn't enjoy either) the hospital was unable to do the lumbar puncture that day after all (it was a Public Holiday).

In the morning, my friend had a sore throat, so they did the right thing and mentioned it to the nurses and did another RAT - which came back positive.

And so their Covid isolation began.

Obviously, it's understandable that they needed to be isolated, but, I believe, it was not done well. In one instance, they rang the call bell as their head was pounding and unbearable, but it took 45 minutes to get some help. In desperation, my friend decided at one point to discharge themselves, but was herded back into the room by staff (my friend was apparently wearing a mask).

As I understand it, their meals were missed on several occasions, they were mostly left to their own devices and the investigations seemed to stop. The hospital seemed to be attributing my friend's headaches by then to Covid, but I understand my friend felt absolutely neglected.  Eventually my friend was discharged the second evening, but their  headaches continued at home for another week (my friend figured at least they could take pain meds when it hurt without having to wait for 45 minutes or more), but my friend was still worrying in case they had been right in the first place and it wasn't covid-related.

Working in the area, I understand how busy nurses can get, especially at this crazy time (staff are sick themselves, and wards are running short-staffed most of the time) but I think they could have done better.  At the hospital I worked at, when patients were in isolation and rang the call-bell, we called them on their mobile or the bed phone to ask what they were needing. If the patient wasn't "your" patient but their nurse was busy, we would find out what they needed and pass on the message if we couldn't do it ourselves. This helps reduce the amount of wasted time and resources, as staff are required to glove, gown and re-mask each time they go into an isolation room. By calling them first, we not only were able to find out what they needed without dressing up, we could give them an idea of how long it would take to meet their need, and this seemed to make them feel less isolated and heard. I have observed that people who feel unwell are vulnerable, and being away from family and locked in a room with minimal contact with staff, makes this worse.  Missing meals was just the straw that broke our friendly camel's back.

So, to all you other hospital staff out there, hang in there (it's been a helluva ride), but please don't forget to try to think of work-arounds to help make those isolated feel they are just as important and cared for as non-iso patients. :)