As of Sunday night San Francisco, along with four other Bay Area counties, returned to tighter restrictions on business activities and gatherings because of a COVID-19 case surge that officials said could overwhelm the hospital system if it isn’t controlled soon. “Civic” spoke with nurse Jamille Cabacungan, who works in an acute care unit at UCSF Medical Center that cares for COVID-19 patients, about working conditions and her observations from working with coronavirus patients. While the availability of personal protective equipment like N-95 masks has improved, Cabacungan said nurses are feeling overwhelmed and would be better able to provide care with a bigger staff.
For patients, she said, the experience of being hospitalized with COVID-19 is one of isolation. Even nurses limit their interactions with these patients to prevent getting infected, performing their tasks quickly.
“If you want to go out and risk getting sick, just know that if you get hospitalized, it will only be you in that room. You will probably see the nurses […] every now and then but we also try to limit our time to be in the room. We try to cluster all the care, you know, take your vitals, give your meds, get you clean, all in one little 30-minute, 45-minute cluster so that way we can do the same thing for another patient. The interaction that those patients have is very limited. But it’s the safest thing right now.”
— Jamille Cabacungan
A segment from our radio show and podcast, “Civic.” Listen at 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays at 102.5 FM in San Francisco, or online at ksfp.fm, and subscribe on Apple, Google, Spotify or Stitcher.
