INTERVIEW FROM CRITICAL CARE NURSE: ANDREW KAMAU

INTERVIEW FROM CRITICAL CARE NURSE: ANDREW KAMAU

Many critical care nurses have been on the frontline of the Covid-19 pandemic fight. They have worked long hours. They have seen their friends and colleagues succumb to the virus. And some have contracted the disease while at work. We catch up with one survivor, Mr. Andrew Kamau.

Andrew, tell us a little about who Andrew Kamau is

I am A nurse, BScN, RN with most of my experience being in intensive care units (ICU). My hobbies are listening to music and playing basketball. I have a wife and am a father of two lovely girls. Am Kenyan, who came to Uganda to study but stayed longer than planned mostly due to my marriage.

How long have you lived in Uganda and what is your favourite thing(s) about Uganda?

My favorite things about Uganda include the friendliness of the people, the relatively affordable cost of living, and that my wife who is a Ugandan is here.

At what point in your career did you transition into your current work/role? There may be some readers looking to make this transition themselves. Walk us through these steps and the advice that you would give them.

I started working in ICU in 2013 (during my internship) as a part time job. I have been working in ICU for about 8 years now. After 4 years’ experience, I have taken on leadership roles in two ICUs so far. My advice to nurses who would like to be able to take a similar path to mine in any nursing specialty; you are most likely to be working in a hospital where several procedures or routines are not done in line with ‘best practice’/up to date research. This is either due to resource limitation or gaps in continuing medical education. Gather as much knowledge as possible, always strive to find out what the best practices are (especially from your contacts in more advanced/resource-rich hospitals or from reading). Make use of this knowledge every day to cause a positive impact on your patient care and operations of your workplace. You can start this even before you become a leader. When you have knowledge, share it often. People appreciate and reward you in different ways.

And what are some of the lessons you have learned in your career that are crucial for other nurses?

There are lessons I have learnt in my career that might be relevant to other nurses. One is that nurses are the health workers whose interventions have the biggest influence on the patient's outcomes. Even though nurses have their own challenges, any gaps/sloppiness in nursing care could negatively influence patient outcomes.

As a Frontline Health Worker in the ICU, you see some of the worst hit cases; those who are critically ill from Covid 19; tell us a bit about your experiences there. What are the highs and lows of your work?

In critical care we always deal with people whose life is in danger, mostly people with one or more of their vital organs/organ systems failing. Covid -19 has caused surges in the numbers of patients that require admission to intensive care units. The fear of possible exposure to the disease while caring for the ill has changed a lot of our workplace dynamics. At my workplace, I provide direct care to patients and also have supervisory roles. Intensive care has been challenging lately especially during waves of Covid19: Staff shortages, colleagues falling sick, heavy workload, bad patient outcomes and difficult employers. Despite all the challenges, there is no one to do the job but us. With the high death toll especially in the 2nd wave, how did you and your team manage the grief from the family and its effects on your mental health what are some of your coping mechanisms?

The grief was there but people kept working, they know that it is their job. Many of my colleagues also help the relatives to deal with their grief. For most families, there will be a doctor, nurse or other hospital worker who they have become fond of. We support the families where we can. In the second wave, however, a colleague of ours, friendly to all of us, an ENT surgeon 35yrs old was admitted to our ICU. It was a very difficult two weeks of us caring for him. His death devastated and demoralized the team. People cried and mourned, eventually we had to keep doing our job. People have different coping mechanisms. Mine is finding time to be home, getting time to play a game at least once a week. I think some of us ICU nurses even cope by overworking in such times, the money makes one happy.

If a nurse wanted to specialise in Critical Care or start working in ICU, what advice would you give them.

What are some of the benefits or some of the brighter spots of working in such in the Critical care specialty?

I think all nurses should have some ICU experience; it builds one's ability to" save lives": which is what we nurses all claim to do for a living.

You are a COVID-19 survivor, and many of your fellow frontliners are as well. Tell us more about this experience being diagnosed with COVID-19, were you scared, hopeful, what was the treatment regimen and how did you handle it?

I had a mild form of the disease when I tested positive for Covid-19. I only felt really bad for two days. I was very hopeful that I would heal. I took vitamin C supplements and antimalarials since I had malaria at the same time.

What are the top 3 things that helped you beat the COVID-19? How did you handle the COVID-19 related stigma?

I think outcomes are a matter of chance and not probably a result of anything in our control. Vaccination seems to be offering good protection now, it's our best protection against the virus. It's terrible for the 2% of us who end up with very sick lungs and the ones who lose their loved ones. I suffered no stigma when I was sick.

You have worked in over 5 ICUs in Kla (out of X ICUs) What next for Nurse Kamau? future plans in your career?

I intend to continue being involved in direct patient care and mentoring colleagues. In the next 10 years, I will have to choose between teaching nursing and an early retirement.

From your experience, what would you do to improve the ICU service delivery in the country?

In order to improve ICU services in the country, I think there is a need to retain experienced nurses by paying them well enough to keep them doing the bedside work and training new nurses.