South Australian nurses tending dying Victorians warn their home state to stay vigilant against COVID-19
South Australian nurses arrived to “unstable” conditions in Victorian aged care homes – providing end-of-life support and comforting relatives by video. But they’re starting to turn the situation around, and need us to stay vigilant back home. Watch our video interview with the top SA nurse in Melbourne.
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South Australian nurses tending Victorians dying of COVID-19 in the “ghost town” of Melbourne have a stark message for SA – stay vigilant to avoid the disaster gripping our interstate neighbours.
Team leader Rebecca Badcock says morale remains high despite the nurses working in two nursing homes which had COVID outbreaks, including giving palliative care to residents dying in isolation and comforting their relatives by video links.
Ms Badcock, executive director of nursing and midwifery at the Central Adelaide Local Health Network, is leading the team of 20 volunteers and has been in Melbourne for almost a fortnight – and faces a fortnight of self-isolation on return this Friday. As Melbourne suffered its deadliest day with 21 deaths and 410 new cases, Ms Badcock said the team was well aware more than 1000 Victorian healthcare workers have contracted the infection.
“This is a challenging environment we have gone into – in new cases about a quarter are in health care workers,” she said. “But we were really well prepared and the team has a lot of experience with personal protective equipment (PPE).”
The nurses brought ample supplies of their own PPE from Adelaide and their daily routine includes “don and doff” monitoring each other putting on and removing PPE correctly as well as symptom checks and swabs.
On arrival the team found the nursing homes “unstable” with staff on leave and the homes not ready to double as clinics.
Ms Badcock stressed the facilities were residential homes, not hospitals, and, as well as caring for residents, part of the nurses’ role has been putting in systems and processes including education about PPE.
“Both homes we are working in have had significant COVID cases,” Ms Badcock said. “When we first arrived it was in the range of 15 per cent of residents testing positive, but there have been great improvements and in the last screening one facility had just one new positive case and the other had no positive cases.
“In the couple of weeks we have been here we have seen the situation (in the two homes) start to turn around.”
Ms Badcock is proud of the team and what they have achieved, but it has come with tears as they supported people through end-of-life experiences. “In the facilities there have been people who passed away from COVID,” she said. “It is challenging, communicating with their families through those times – you have to do it differently, using things like Skype.
“We have had really grateful feedback from some of the families, just grateful our nurses have been there and able to support their loved ones through the experience.”
The team is staying in a city hotel and driving themselves to the homes in teams of two.
Support from home has included an “endless supply of SA goodies” such as Haigh’s and Fruchoc treats, as they deal with a city in lockdown which Ms Badcock likened to a “ghost town”.
The warnings were stark for SA, she said.
“We just can’t be complacent (in SA) – it would be very easy to unravel the good work,” she said.
“Let’s be vigilant South Australia, keep up the good work and be a shining light from a national perspective in managing COVID.
“We don’t want to be in this situation Victoria is going through.”