Nursing in a Pandemic by Sabrina Dangol

Photo: Sabrina Dangol/ photo.circle

NURSING IN A PANDEMIC: Every evening at dusk Deepa Lama, 32, sets out from her house in Basundhara to the Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital in Maharajgunj, Kathmandu for her 12-hour shift. She is a surgical nurse at the hospital who will soon be working at the COVID-19 ward.

During the three months of the nation-wide lockdown, the hospital was scrambling as they were not prepared to deal with a pandemic of this scale–there weren’t enough protective gear, or staff and the entire system was overwhelmed with the uncertainty of the virus. “If you work in the health sector, every day is a challenge, but this pandemic feels like a battle that never ends.”

With the lockdown opening and a sharp surge of cases in Kathmandu, the hospital is working at capacity. Lama is bracing for the worst, “I move between fear and acceptance,” she says adding, “I have come to a point of acceptance now where I would rather focus my skills and energy on handling the crisis than live in constant fear.” Lama is taking all the necessary precautions, sanitizing, meditating, and spending time with her family members, who are proud of the work she does.

Text and Photos: Sabrina Dangol @sabrinadangol

Edit: Mallika Aryal @mikaness

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Photo: Sabrina Dangol/ photo.circle