HK nursing assistants rally to answer the call of duty

HONG KONG－"I want to drink water.""When to feed me?" Calls are ringing one after another at the nurses' station in North Lantau Hospital Hong Kong Infection Control Center's ward area.

The calls are from the severe COVID-19 patients in negative pressure isolation wards and they rely on the "nurses" to meet all their needs.

In Hong Kong, the term "nurses "refers to female caregivers, including nursing assistants and social workers.

During the pandemic outbreak, these "nurses" help to take care of COVID-19 patients, and 50-year-old Katy Chung is one of them.

Since the outbreak of the fifth wave of COVID-19 in the city, the Hong Kong Hospital Authority has deployed front-line and retired medical staff from hospitals to work at the center, which receives COVID-19 patients.

Chung, from Hong Kong Buddhist Hospital, volunteered to work there on Jan 6.

Negative rapid test results are Chung's "pass" to work at the center.

The morning shift starts at 7 am, and Chung leaves home at 6 am after having a hearty breakfast to fuel her intense nine-hour shift.

When arriving at the ward, Chung immediately changes into a green uniform, and then puts on a blue protective suit, headgear, goggles, an N95 mask, a face shield and gloves, in order to be able to enter the negative pressure isolation wards to record the blood pressure and take the temperature of the patients.

The center is a negative pressure ward hospital that receives and provides treatment for severe COVID-19 patients. The nurses prepare everything for the patients, such as water, meals, towels and sanitary napkins.

"We are very careful in every detail, because if we make a mistake, we can't come to work," says Chung, adding that a colleague forgot to wear goggles and was immediately dismissed by the supervisor.

As the pandemic worsened in Hong Kong at the end of February, the workload of the nurses multiplied exponentially, as patients admitted to the center are nearly all in their 80s and 90s, mostly critically ill and unable to move.

Usually, the nurses change the diapers of patients who cannot go to the bathroom by themselves every four hours, but the heavy workload sometimes makes it impossible for them to stick to this schedule.

"I feel sorry for the elderly because we cannot always meet their needs in a timely manner," Chung says. "Six or seven nurses have more than 70 patients to care for."

Fortunately, things are getting better. Chung says that the "nurses' group" has grown to more than 300 members.

On March 1, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government announced that it had relaxed certain rules for the care sector and was urgently recruiting temporary contract care staff from the mainland.

"The mainland has great experience in fighting COVID-19, and I believe nurses from the mainland are very professional," Chung says.

More than a decade ago, Chung was a businesswoman. After undergoing a gynecological operation and receiving such good care from medical staff during her stay in hospital, she decided to become an "angel" caring for the sick.

With hard work, Chung obtained her nursing qualification certificate and became a nursing assistant, working in orthopedics and internal medicine.

During the last 14 years, Chung has only had two Spring Festival holidays, and, this year, she spent the holiday at the center.

Chung and her family had a meal together at noon on Chinese New Year's Eve, and then she rushed off to work.

Amid the pandemic, "Peace and Health" has become the most popular of greetings for the Spring Festival, replacing gongxi facai (wishing you prosperity), a favorite blessing of Hong Kong residents in the past.

Chung's tour of duty at the center is 12 weeks. "As long as the center needs my service, I am willing to work. I'll be here until the fifth wave of the pandemic is over if necessary," she says.

Xinhua