Essay of Effects of Covid-19 Patients and Surgical Tech Students

Since 1918, we have been faced with serious pandemics and Covid-19 is the fifth one. It was first discovered in Wuhan, China late 2019 and since then, it has spread to almost all parts of the world in the shortest time possible. Based on the scientists' phylogenetic analysis, it was named severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) due to the nature of the virus (Santos). People of all kinds have felt its effects, and its cure has not been established up to date.

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Scientists are on their toes looking for a vaccine to suppress it as they have not lost hope of finding its cure. Due to it, we have had many patients until our hospitals can hold no more. Clinical affiliates have been forced to rethink their approach to patient care in our health institutions. It is for their health and that of patients, including those infected with Covid-19. Since hospitals were full, they would not allow people to die of this disease because they would not be accommodated in hospitals; they shifted to outpatient care.

There have been more outpatient cases done by our medical teams to help save more lives, as that is what we are trained to do. With technological advances, delivering medical services has been made easier since it is not a must for patients to visit hospitals or dispensaries to receive the medical care they require. They can take these services to their doorsteps or specific locations outside hospitals for easy accessibility. They reached this decision after they passed the social distance rule to regulate its spread (Punia et al.). The more patients would be allowed to visit hospitals, the more they would turn up in large numbers and social distancing would not be possible.

Shifting to ambulatory care has impacted patients who require overnight recovery in ways that they do not get the immediate attention that they need all the time. Because they get these services at a specified time and from there, they will continue recovering independently. Doctors and nurses will be at home or hospital taking care of other things and the patient will be at home undergoing the recovery process. Their recovery process will be without any specialist who can intervene if the patient does not respond to the treatment given (Winter and Joshua R. Korzenik).

These patients will not have access to the necessary medical equipment they might need if their condition worsens. During this COVID-19 pandemic, patients who do not show severe signs are treated and advised to stay at home to stop spreading the disease. It is equally dangerous to them because if the condition worsens and they face difficulty breathing, they might need ventilators to support them, which will not be available at home. It is a disadvantage to them because they might die and they would have prevented this if they had received inpatient care (Guerriere et al.).

Medical service providers are advised to use personal protective equipment to prevent them from contracting the disease from infected patients and avoid spreading it in case they are infected. It includes face masks, boots, gloves, a long-sleeved isolation gown, face shields, and a respirator (Thomas et al.). It has affected me as a Surgical Tech student because I communicate with my trainers to get more information and understand what I am supposed to do during medical procedures. The face masks make it difficult to communicate because the voice is not well heard. I might not hear clearly which instrument the surgeon needs and end up providing a different one. It might delay the process and even make the surgeon think incompetent, causing a rough professional relationship.

I can feel it has limited my access to surgical cases because, since the pandemic, minor surgical cases have been postponed, or alternative treatment has been applied. They are also done in Ambulatory Surgery Centres (ASC), where only a few experts accommodate a few experts. For those that must be performed, only specialists are allowed to perform them due to social distance regulations. I have no access to them hence making me gain less experience in this career. Experience comes from being present when it is done or assisting in performing the procedures; this is not possible for now.

This pandemic has affected my point of view on a surgical technology career in that I have developed a negative attitude towards it. Surgical procedures being performed without my assistance demoralize me. I see that my career is less important in the healthcare system because the surgeons can get each piece of equipment and perform the surgery by themselves. Preparation of patients for surgery is also difficult because it is done under strict and ultimate care. As a student, I am not given a chance to handle the patients.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the Covid-19 pandemic has affected both patients and healthcare providers. Patients who need overnight recovery are affected the most because they are left alone or sometimes with family members who cannot help if the conditions worsen due to the shift to outpatient care. Personal protective equipment affects me as a student because I cannot perform my duties perfectly. My access has been limited to surgical cases since only experts are allowed into the rooms and other minor surgeries are postponed. This pandemic has made me develop a negative view of my career. I see it as less important because the duties I perform are less needed in the healthcare system.

Works Cited

Guerriere, Denise N, et al. (PDF) Evaluation of the Ambulatory and Home Care Record ... www.researchgate.net/publication/7208609_Evaluation_of_the_ambulatory_and_home_care_record_Agreement_between_self-reports_and_administrative_data.

Punia, Vineet, et al. “Evidence of a Rapid Shift in Outpatient Practice During the COVID-19 Pandemic Using Telemedicine.” Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., Publishers, 1 Oct. 2020, www.liebertpub.com/doi/full/10.1089/tmj.2020.0150.

Santos, Wagner Gouvea dos. “Natural History of COVID-19 and Current Knowledge on Treatment Therapeutic Options.” Biomedicine & Pharmacotherapy, Elsevier Masson, 3 July 2020, www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0753332220306867.

Thomas, John P, et al. “Evaluating the National PPE Guidance for NHS Healthcare Workers during the COVID-19 Pandemic.” RCP Journals, Royal College of Physicians, 1 May 2020, www.rcpjournals.org/content/clinmedicine/early/2020/05/01/clinmed.2020-0143?versioned=true.

Winter, Rachel W, and Joshua R. Korzenik. The Practical Pros and Cons of Complementary and ... www.gastro.theclinics.com/article/S0889-8553(17)30094-8/pdf.