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Essential, or Expendable?
The trauma of having to work while everyone else is staying home in the midst of a global pandemic, and what it’s doing to my mental health.
I work in a nursing home located in what rapidly became the county with the fastest infection rate of coronavirus cases in all of New York State: St. Lawrence County. A county that also happens to be the most rural part of the state as well as one of the poorest, entirely unprepared for what lies just around the corner as this deadly virus continues to spread. While I do have my nurses’ aide certification and assist with direct care of my residents, my job for the past two years has primarily been working in the activities department in both skilled nursing units as well as the assisted living wing of the facility. Now I’m sure some who read this might be thinking: activities aide? Essential? Really?
My responsibility is the mental health and activity level of all 140 or so residents in the middle of a rapidly spreading global pandemic that has kept them from seeing their loved ones, many of whom don’t understand why their families have stopped coming to see them or why they must stand outside at the windows when they do.
Yes, I am essential.
