Will be more sensitive to patients now, says Covid positive PGI nursing officer

Naina Mishra

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, May 2

A 35-year-old nursing officer, Ram Kishore Soni, had tested positive for Covid on April 29. He is posted in the communicable disease (CD) isolation ward of the PGI for the past 10 years.

“I was looking after patients’ care even when H1N1 broke out in the country and there were several patients admitted in our CD ward. I did not panic when Covid came. The first Covid patient in the PGI came to our ward. I was quite excited to learn about this novel virus,” said Soni.

Soni had stopped going home as he opted for quarantine facility in the PGI so as to reduce the risk of infection among his family members. He said, “My family doesn’t know that I have been tested positive. They only know that I am discharging my duty for Covid.” He hopes to get back to work in the Covid ward itself post-recovery, as he has no apprehensions about the disease. “There is no need to be scared as the Covid mortality rate is quite low,” he said.

“If we keep getting scared of this new virus, we will never learn how to deal with it. Now that I have experienced Covid, I think I will be able to cater to the psychological needs of patients efficiently. Many a time, patients panic and suffer from anxiety. Psychological support plays a key role as my friends keep my morale high,” he said.

Soni added, “As health workers, we used to spend only five minutes on a patient. With Covid experience, I will now talk more with patients. I will be more sensitive to them. We can always improvise when it comes to patient care.”

“We had been taking all precautions but there must be some lapse because of which I tested positive for Covid. May be while disposing of the personal protective equipment,” he said.

Suspected Covid patients are admitted in the isolation ward at the CD ward. The suspected cases testing positive are shifted to the Nehru Extension Hospital of the PGI. The nursing officer is currently asymptomatic and stable. He was tested positive during random sampling.