Craigavon nurse shares her life on the front line

The nurse, posting on her YouTube channel SamanathaMagnet, speaking to this publication said she was speaking in a purely personal capacity and the experience on her ward would not be the same on other wards where the pressure may be higher.

In the video posted on Saturday she said her ward was filled to a third of its capacity and all but one patient had tested positive for Covid-19.

She also said: “But even though we haven’t filled up the ward properly, don’t be fooled into thinking we are getting off easily, because it’s just starting. Craigavon ICU is full already, so we have very limited capacity to look after patients with severe strains of Covid-19.

“It’s all becoming a bit real now.”

She went on: “Even though the novelty of isolation has begun to wear off, please don’t become complacent, stay at home as much as possible, just like before and I know you guys are doing that and enjoying time with family and you’re doing home schooling and cooking home cooked meals and I know you’re doing the best to keep some kind of routine and stability at home.”

She urged people to keep doing that and then became emotional as she revealed she had decided to self isolate within her home: “Up till now I have had a pretty normal existence, I’ve been driving back and forth to work, the traffic has been a lot lighter, which has been nice, but other than that I’m a home bird so on my days off I just like to be at home anyway.

“But last night as I was driving home I decided it was time to isolate myself from my husband, who by the way has been an absolute gem today, he carried all my computer equipment upstairs and has been leaving care packages for me at the door. Yesterday I was working with Covid-19 positive patients and I just realised how exposed we are as nurses. We have the facemasks and the visors but we were walking around with our normal uniforms and just using the sleeveless aprons and gloves for looking after the patients when we were closer to them.”

She said showering and changing facilities aren’t up and running yet but staff were doing their best to avoid cross-contamination when travelling to and from work and washing clothes at home.

She said it was a “real challenge” and added: “Craigavon are doing their best at this time of crisis to get everything up and running, they’re looking after staff as well as they can.”

She said hot meals were being provided and canteen staff greeted them with a smile: “They’re doing their best to look after us.”

She said it was difficult to update because things are changing every day.

Closing her remarks she finished with two readings from the Bible, from the Book of Proverbs, read in the form of a prayer: “I pray that you would trust in the Lord completely and not rely on your own opinions. I pray that you would rely, with all your heart, on Him to guide you.”

A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this story on our website. While I have your attention, I also have an important request to make of you.

In order for us to continue to provide high quality and trusted local news on this free-to-read site, I am asking you to also please purchase a copy of our newspaper whenever you are able to do so.

Our journalists are highly trained and our content is independently regulated by IPSO to some of the most rigorous standards in the world. But being your eyes and ears comes at a price. So we need your support more than ever to buy our newspapers during this crisis.

With the coronavirus lockdown having a major impact on many of our local valued advertisers - and consequently the advertising that we receive - we are more reliant than ever on you helping us to provide you with news and information by buying a copy of our newspaper when you can safely.

You can also enjoy unlimited access to the best news from across Northern Ireland and the UK by subscribing to newsletter.co.uk

With a digital subscription, you can read more than five articles, see fewer ads, enjoy faster load times, and get access to exclusive newsletters and content. Visit https://www.newsletter.co.uk/subscriptions now to sign up.

Thank you