Debbie
Covid-History Item Type Metadata
Age
44
Date
06/21/2021
Location
Delhi, ny, USA
When did the impact of COVID-19 first occur to you? How did your reaction to COVID-19 change between then and the first case in your town?
I am a registered nurse in a small rural hospital. I think we started hearing about COVID via work a little sooner than the average person in this area. Much like the average person in this area we at first believed it would not effect us as much as bigger cities and bigger hospitals. Once the rate in our area started climbing we realized it was way bigger than we anticipated. When the schools closed then it really hit home.
How is your life different now than it was before the pandemic?
After all the mask wearing it's really difficult to stop wearing them. Especially in public, where there are a lot of people. Working as a nurse will never be the same and the staffing shortages are ridiculous.
How are you feeling? What are you doing to relieve stress?
I was stressed through the whole thing. Work was immensely changed. Even in our small hospital, watching patients get sicker and sucker and knowing there was nothing we could do about it The worst was not being able to let family members visit. Doubly worse because my own mother was back and forth between hospitals and a nursing home and I couldn't go see her. Stress was blunted by a lot of eating and just trying to stay positive for my kids.
What have you noticed has changed in your community since the outbreak? What has surprised you?
Our community, like many others was firmly split on most COVID subjects.....mask wearing, school not being full time, vaccinations. There was no clear 'winner' in any of these debates and people got down right mean. I was very surprised and a lot of the stupidity that surrounded all of this, on both sides.
Are you an essential employee? What do you do? What precautions are being taken at your workplace? What precautions are implementing at home?
I am essential, as is my husband. I worked full times nights throughout the entire pandemic. We were wearing all PPE at work. The N95 masks for 13 + hours was the hardest. At home I was showering 2 and 3 times a day. Trying not to bring COVID from work home. It was very rough.
Do you have children at home? How’s it going?
Yes a 6th grader and a 3rd grader. After the initial shut down the only was we managed was a close friend that is a teacher. Without her I would have had to take time off from work or possibly go on leave. Through the hybrid year my husband and I burned up a lot of our vacation time trying to cover the days my kids were home in school. My kids handled it well once they got into a routine. Online learning was very rough for my 3rd grader. There were lots of tears.
Do you have animals? Did you adopt a pet? How have they impacted your day?
We all ready had pigs, but we did get chickens over the pandemic. It helped by keeping the kids busy.
How do you think this pandemic will change how we behave going forward? What will the “new normal” look like?
I think there will be a lot more online shopping, especially for food. Also a lit of classes and jobs may turn to remote all the time. I also think mask wearing will cone back any time there is an illness about, like the flu.
Dublin Core
Title
Debbie
Subject
COVID-19 (Disease)
Publisher
Southern Adirondack Library System
Date
06/21/2021
Contributor
Southern Adirondack Library System
Rights
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Language
English
Type
Covid History
Identifier
12760878134
Coverage
Coronavirus Pandemic
Collection
Citation
“Debbie,” Leaving Our Fingerprints on History, accessed December 3, 2024, https://fingerprints.sals.edu/omeka/items/show/391.