Mercy Wah: Tell us a little about yourself, where are you from, where do you work, and if you’re attending any schools right now?<\/b><\/p>\n
Beatrice<\/strong>: Hi my name is Beatrice and I work at <\/span>Bentley Commons at Paragon Village<\/span> – an assisted living facility- in <\/span>\u00a0Hackettstown. <\/span>I am currently studying at William Patterson to get my BSN. I am a part of the BSN program there.<\/span><\/p>\n Mercy Wah: How has your working environment changed since Covid?<\/b><\/p>\n \u00a0Beatrice<\/strong>: The environment has become a lot more hostile now, because people are afraid of catching Covid. People have become more tense and alert at work, in hopes that they don\u2019t contract the virus<\/span><\/p>\n Mercy Wah: Would you say such a work environment is mentally draining?<\/b><\/p>\n Beatrice<\/strong>: I would describe it as bitter sweet. Bitter because I would have to come to a hostile work place- especially when the pandemic was at its peak, but it also created a good outcome of people practicing better hygiene, like washing their hands more often.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Mercy Wah: On the topic of people becoming more hygienic, specific to your job description, what did people do before, compared to what they are doing now?<\/b><\/p>\n Beatrice<\/strong>: As the director of nursing at Bentley Commons, my job consists of me managing the nursing departments. I typically deal with families, and paperwork rather than the patients. The floor nurses are the ones that have more of a direct contact with patients. However, during the pandemic, when a lot of the nurses were out sick I had the opportunity to step on the floor and lend a hand to the little nurses that were left. I had more interactions with patients \u2013 I had to go out, pass meds, treat patients and this is also where I noticed the new precautions that were taking place such as more hygiene and washing hands.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Mercy Wah: Since you’re more interactive with the families of the patients, did you come into contact with any family members of a Covid victim, and if so how did that experience go?<\/b><\/p>\n