Nurse reflects on crucial role of therapy to help Covid-19 patients return home
In this blog, senior charge nurse at St Bartholomew’s, Liam Tobin, reflects on how nursing and therapy teams on ward 3A West adapted to provide rehab care to patients after long stays in the intensive care unit.
After a frantic period that has been full of change in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, I had some time to reflect during a particularly testing week.
Fairly early in the pandemic response, 3A West changed from an acute cardiology critical care unit (CCU) specialising in electrophysiology, to the stepdown ward for Covid-19 patients following intensive therapy.
Last week in particular caused me to pause and reflect. Throughout the week we were at near capacity with the majority of patients having recently stepped down from the intensive therapy unit (ITU).
After long stays on the ITU, the patients we were caring for had complex care and therapy needs. They often required full assistance with daily living activities and often had to transfer patients using a hoist.
Most patients were initially still on nasogastric tube feeds with concerns regarding their ability to swallow safely. The discharges were often complex and the rehab period lengthy. Delirium was another issue that was common amongst our patients.
The nursing team consisted of our regular CCU nurses and health care support workers and a number of clinical nurse specialists who had stepped into ward roles.
We also had phenomenal input from all the therapy teams including physiotherapists, occupational therapist, speech and language therapists and dieticians, many of whom had been drafted in from other areas.
The therapy aspect of the care was crucial and the level of teamwork and care shown by all the therapists was, and is, fantastic. Equally the response from the medical team and pharmacy team was great.
The medical team consisted of two teams, with consultants from cardiology and endocrine leading them, responding and forming new teams quickly and working brilliantly with the ward team.
As a ward manager, I was phenomenally proud of the nursing team for the fantastic, high quality, safe care they were providing to patients when they needed it most in such challenging circumstance.
All these patients had undergone a life-changing experience and the team were there to support them in getting back to normal and home.
But equally the way the therapy, medical and pharmacy teams all slotted together to provide fantastic rehab care ensuring these patients were back home as soon as possible was inspiring to see and I am truly proud to be a part of the whole multidisciplinary team in these challenging times.
Find out more about our response to the coronavirus pandemic on our website here.