Diary entries of a physiotherapist during COVID-19
Here, Vikki Ridley, Highly Specialist Respiratory Physiotherapist at St Bartholomew's Hospital provides an honest diary entry on how her work and experiences have changed due to COVID-19.
22.04.2020
Today has been tough, wearing PPE for four hours straight this morning and carrying out heavy rehabs, sitting patients on the edge of the bed who can’t sit up by themselves, some not having head control. Not only this, but they have a tracheostomy and are connected to the ventilator creating an additional challenge. The nurses are great and are doing their best, it’s tough for them, ward nurses looking after intensive care patients, in environments that are not designed for intensive care patients. It’s a testing time for all of us.
In between rehabs we are carrying out chest treatments on intubated patients, trying to clear their secretions, many of them paralysed and unable to cough, this requires manual techniques that again are hard work.
When we aren’t carrying out rehab or respiratory treatments on our patients we are running for the nurses, helping with turns, cleaning patients and assisting with the proning of patients . Once you are in PPE it is non-stop.
Lunch is a nice break, sitting in the courtyard, social distancing, but at least we can get our dose of vitamin D, much needed, and a few minutes to reflect on the morning and relax.
Back to it this afternoon, rehabbing patients getting them moving, speaking and sitting them in chairs for the first time in weeks. It must be so daunting and scary for the patients seeing all these people in full PPE, not being able to see our faces and our smiles of encouragement. Not being able to see their families has been the toughest, many of our patients who have been admitted since the middle of March are confused by the situation and require a lot of reassurance, this in itself must be overwhelming coming from someone behind a mask and visor.
Communication with the multi-disciplinary team is also so important. As physios, we are one of the most consistent team members that patients see, allowing us to advocate for the patients as best we can. Seeing our patients progress and achieve their goals brings a sense of achievement and reward to the whole team. Although patients families are currently not able to partake in therapy sessions due to strict visiting policies, having access to video calls allows them to feel more involve in their relatives care. This also has a positive impact on the patients engagement and attitude towards therapy.
We must not forget the patients who do not have COVID; the patients who have had surgery and still need physiotherapy. There are physios allocated to these wards as well, they are working incredibly hard to ensure they get the input needed and the best possible care.
The end of the day comes with relief but also a little anxiety about what we may face tomorrow. Caring for the sore skin on our faces from PPE, talking to our colleagues about how they have found the day and reflecting on how well our patients have progressed.