Duo wraps up ‘amazing’ year working at Western State’s COVID ward
Many people answered the call when Western State Hospital asked for volunteers to work on the COVID ward on March 31, 2020. Two of them worked on the ward the entire time it was open.
A year later, the COVID-19 pandemic has begun to wane and the special ward has closed. With that closure, RN2 Cindy Choate and Psychiatric Security Attendant Joshua McMullen are back on their home wards and recently reflected on their experience.
“At first it was a little bit scary,” Choate said. “Everyone was a little bit scared, a little bit apprehensive. I think the biggest reason I stuck it out for a full year is because the ward ran so smoothly.”
Despite constant exposure to the potentially lethal virus, neither Choate nor McMullen contracted it. Both were among the first staff at Western to get vaccinated when the vaccine became available in December.
“It’s possible we were safer there than anywhere else because we knew what the diagnosis was and how to protect ourselves,” Choate said.
The ward had as many as 16 patients at one time. Each patient had their own room and stayed in the ward at least 14 days before that time frame was reduced to 10. Three of those patients, each with severe complications from the virus and who were transferred to hospitals with intensive care units, died.
“It was different than normally experiencing a patient death because of the unknown,” Choate said. “We didn’t know if it was going to be three more the next day or if it would get better or worse. The other thing that made it hard was the patients couldn’t have family members (visit). Family members couldn’t say goodbye to their loved ones.”
McMullen, who works the night shift, volunteered to work on the ward because he felt a loyalty to the hospital and its patients.
“A lot of people told me I was brave for being over there, but if I’m being honest I never felt brave. I was scared,” he said. “It was my contribution to the hospital and the patients. I owed it to them.”
Staffing in the ward was limited to two shifts, day and night, and included two registered nurses, a licensed practical nurse and up to four floor staff. The ward closed when the patient count hit zero, but reopened every time a patient tested positive for COVID. When the ward closed the staff returned to their home wards, but that respite typically lasted only a couple of days.
“There was one point about six months in that I felt like I had done enough on the ward, but we were not seeing enough volunteers,” McMullen said. “I had so much first-hand experience already I figured I might as well stretch this out as long as they’re willing to keep me working.”
As one of the floor staff — and sometimes the ward’s only floor worker — McMullen put in long hours and got little rest when the COVID ward was open.
“I was working 12-plus hour shifts and nearly every day at times for first six months,” he said. “I had no contact with friends and family for the first three or four months. I had to keep myself busy because otherwise I would be at home doing nothing.”
Western Chief Nursing Officer Jennifer Brown had high praise for the team that worked on the COVID ward.
“The team truly did an amazing job — and continues to do so — in managing our COVID patient population,” she said. “It truly has been a team effort — a multidisciplinary effort.”
Choate and McMullen found ways to make life better for the ward’s patients and staff. McMullen and another nurse worked with a library to get regular donations of magazines and books.
“The experience for the patients is extremely lonely so I like to go beyond what I normally do to make sure that the patients have an enjoyable time,” said McMullen, who is taking college courses to advance his career at Western.
Choate and others created the ward’s de facto policy and procedure guide, a manual titled “How to do Just About Anything on the COVID Ward,” which laid out procedures on the ward from intake to discharge.
“The reason we came up with that is the people who came to work on the ward for the most part were travel nurses and not familiar with Western policies,” Choate said. “It was really helpful for the nightshift.”
Despite seeing staff come and go, Choate said the people who worked on the ward developed a deep bond.
“We had a high quality of staff and great teamwork and camaraderie,” she said. “For me that was a really big part. I wouldn’t trade the experience. If I had to go back and do it all over again I would.”
The COVID ward closed at the end of March, and both McMullen and Choate are eager for a return to some sort of normal life. For Choate, that meant finally taking a vacation and heading to the beach with her three daughters. McMullen doesn’t have immediate plans to take time off, but he is looking forward to something everyone took for granted a mere 13 months ago.
“I am happy that I was able to contribute to the patients and to my hospital but I can definitely ready to go out and see friends,” he said.