COVID Overview

I can’t remember what I’ve said about this so far, but to recap how COVID affected life at the hospital:

One of the first things that happened was that employees were instructed to use one particular entrance, and visitors to use another. (This made my own process of getting into the building about ten minutes longer.) We began to have to answer a series of questions when arriving, and to have our temperature taken every time we entered the building.

Visitors were restricted. This has ebbed and flowed over the months. At many times, the restrictions have been so stringent that the building has seemed quite empty. This has been a considerable hardship for patients, and is often mentioned by them.

Employees from the beginning have been required to follow social distancing guidelines: staying six feet away from others as possible; frequent hand hygiene; wearing of a mask when not eating; eating preferably done in the cafeteria, where tables have been placed far apart and many chairs removed. There are signs everywhere with instructions about social distancing and PPE usage. Plexiglas appeared here and then there. At times, people were seen carrying buckets around the hospital, wiping down high-touch surfaces.

Chaplains are considered essential employees and have reported to the hospital the whole time, whereas our manager, administrative person and one or two others began working from home in March (of 2020, this is) and have rarely or never been seen since.

At first it seemed there would be no effect on my income, and in fact, there seemed to be a double financial upside in that I was not traveling nor taking days off work in order to travel. However, after a while, the pandemic began to cause budget problems for the hospital, partly because elective and non-urgent procedures were put on hold to leave room for a surge of COVID patients, which to date has not happened in San Francisco, at least not in the hospital where I have been working for the past few years. Many workers have been forced to take time off (this might entail using PTO; I’m not sure, since this does not apply to me, since I am a per diem and do not have PTO), and retirement and early retirement have been encouraged. As mentioned here, I began to have fewer shifts than before, which is what led to my seeking and (fortunately) getting Job Two.

As for our actual work, from the beginning, we have placed new emphasis on staff support. Chaplains do not go in the rooms of COVID patients. If we are called to care for such a patient, it is done by telephone or video. I think this largely to preserve PPE and perhaps to put as few staff members as possible at risk. Because visitors are so restricted, chaplains have been more important than ever when it comes to emotional support of patients. There is sometimes a balancing act, as we try to stay six feet from patients and keep visits as brief as possible, while maybe being the only person there, besides the bedside RN, when a patient’s final hours are approaching. We want to keep ourselves and others safe, but not leave someone who is dying alone, or leave a frightened single visitor alone.

The supply of PPE has been uneven. At times, employees were asked to put their used N95 masks into special bins so they could be cleaned and reused. This didn’t seem to go on for long, and is not happening currently. However, rather than being fitted this year and last for N95 masks that come in at least two different sizes, we are now being fitted for one-size-fits-most models that I suppose are cheaper. In my case, I think the fit was better with the sized masks.

The first time I reported to work after San Francisco’s shelter in place order (which was a week or so later than my colleagues did, because that was also Hammett’s final week), I made sure my father and sister had my important financial information. However, I didn’t feel frightened of going to work, and I have never felt scared at work, though once or twice, at one job or another, I have walked by a whole series of rooms containing COVID patients and kind of thought, “Holy moly.” I do find I don’t want to stand around right outside such a room for long.

The hardest part has turned out to be when one of my very own colleagues has been sloppy about social distancing, which occurs exclusively at Job One, and the second hardest part was early on when people in my neighborhood weren’t wearing masks and/or allowing six feet when I thought they should be.