St. Joe’s nurses: Answering the call for care during COVID-19, and beyond
As we recognize National Nursing Week, St. Joe’s offers a heartfelt thanks to all our nurses for their courage, commitment, and contributions during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Below are just a few of the more than 2,000 St. Joe’s nurses who have gone above and beyond to answer the call to deliver compassionate care to our patients, support families and loved ones, and serve our community in crisis.
Together, their stories demonstrate how nurses have worked tirelessly to meet the challenges that the pandemic has posed upon our healthcare system through each wave of COVID-19.
The first wave: “It’s the patients who motivate us”
At the onset of the pandemic, our nurses demonstrated dynamic leadership by taking on a number of diverse roles to respond to the evolving needs of the hospital, and our community.
Catherine Duffin, Nurse Manager on Clinical Teaching Unit West, took the lead in establishing the hospital’s COVID-19 screening protocols to curb risk of the virus’s transmission, and help keep patients, healthcare workers, and the community safe.
With congregate settings identified as COVID-19 hotspots, Amanda Weatherston, Nurse Manager on our Congregate Settings COVID-19 Response Team, took on the role of bridging a gap between the hospital and community-care settings.
Her team extended hospital resources to local long-term care and retirement homes so that staff in these settings could safely care for residents, while also protecting themselves against the virus.
“We’re always willing and able to provide support, whether it’s through education on infection prevention and control best practices and the use of personal protective equipment, or taking the bigger step to help deliver care to residents,” Weatherston says.
When care homes in active COVID-19 outbreak needed more boots on the ground, Duffin and Weatherston didn’t think twice about providing bedside care. In so doing, they inspired others at St. Joe’s to raise their hand to care for our community’s most vulnerable populations, and deliver upon the hospital’s mission, vision, and values.
“It’s always been our job to help people and we haven’t lost sight of that during the pandemic,” says Duffin. “It’s the patients who motivate us every day.”
The second wave: “Rising to the occasion, and doing what they do best”
During the second wave of the virus, preparations to create capacity in the hospital to care for patients with COVID-19 continued while vaccines offered new hope for an end to the pandemic.
In partnership with Hamilton Health Sciences, Weatherston spearheaded the Satellite Health Facility (SHF) launch to alleviate pressures on hospital space. The SHF is set up for patients who no longer need hospital care and are awaiting transfer to community-based locations, such as long-term care or retirement living.
Meanwhile, healthcare workers, including Heather Dunlop-Witt, a Nurse Educator for St. Joe’s Mental Health and Addiction Services, were called upon to support care homes in crises. They helped assess residents, administered their medication, and delivered frontline care.
“There were times when I felt out of my comfort zone providing physical care but, as a nurse, you have these skills and they come back to you,” Dunlop-Witt says.
Dunlop-Witt also helped with our community’s vaccine rollout, which was a departure from her role as a nurse educator responsible for keeping her co-workers informed of new care models and procedures to keep themselves, and their patients, safe during COVID-19.
Working at a local clinic, Dunlop-Witt assisted pharmacy teams in the rapid assembly and precise preparation of COVID-19 vaccine injections to administer to the community.
“It’s been busy and I’ve definitely learned a lot,” Dunlop- Witt says. “Being able to see our staff rising to the occasion, and doing what they do best, has been the most rewarding part of it.”
The third wave: “United in one purpose”
In the race between the COVID-19 vaccine and variants, the third wave has put unprecedented strain on hospitals across the province, including at St. Joe’s.
As COVID-19 cases climb in the community, an influx of patients is being admitted to the hospital. In contrast to previous waves, patients with COVID-19 are younger with many needing life-saving treatment in St. Joe’s intensive care unit (ICU).
To ease the burden on critical care teams, healthcare workers, such as Duffin and Homan Ganji, a Registered Nurse in St. Joe’s Mood Disorders Program, have been redeployed to the hospital’s ICU – where it takes a network of specially trained people to care for each patient.
“It’s a hugely different focus of care, but I felt it was my duty,” says Ganji, who has previous critical care experience. “As healthcare workers, we are united in one purpose – helping our colleagues across all departments in need of support.”
In the meantime, Ganji is holding on to hope the community will follow public health guidelines, and get vaccinated, so that the third wave of COVID-19 will be the last of the major surges.
“It’s been a very humbling experience to go to the ICU where you see people on life support,” he says. “The damaging effects of this illness are very real.”