Karen Wall

Professional Title: Registered Nurse

Class Years: 2007 and 2011

Majors: Political Science and Nursing

Location: Greensboro, N.C.

Medical Experience: CNA for 10 years and a registered nurse for 9 years

Please share your experience working with patients diagnosed with COVID-19

It’s scary and sad because they are there all alone. We are restricting visitors right now so we are all they have. This virus doesn’t discriminate either. I’ve seen patients young and old, white and black. Everyone is at risk. I get emotional sometimes when I leave my kids to go to work because I know leaving my home for any reason increases my chances of being exposed. That risk is even higher being that I work in a hospital where people come in sick all the time. Right now, I may have a patient who is not yet showing symptoms, but comes in to the hospital for another reason. Later after that patient has been hospitalized for days and wasn’t initially tested, they start to have symptoms and then test positive for the virus. Everyone who was in contact with that patient is now at risk of getting the virus. And we are leaving these sick patients and going back home to our families everyday possibly exposing them without even knowing. It’s a good thing that we are now required to wear mask during our 12 hour shifts now, but we have to keep the same mask and store in in a paper bag for 3 days before getting a new one.

What advice would you give to people during this pandemic?

Stay home, wash your hands, only go out of you absolutely need to, and wear a mask if you do have to go out. Please do not wear gloves out in public causing cross contamination by touching everything and also increasing the risk of infecting yourself. If you do wear gloves, change them often. For example, using a glove to pump gas and throwing it away after you are done is okay.