Life in hospice
The experiences of a hospice nurse during the COVID-19 pandemic.
An often overlooked profession in the medical field, hospice nurses care for those who are on their final stretch of life, doing their best to make their patients feel comfortable in their final days. Melissa Mirza, a local Las Vegas hospice nurse sat with me to tell her story of helping the sick and elderly through the COVID-19 pandemic. Being a hospice nurse for four years, and a charge nurse for 12 before that, Mirza had thought that she had seen it all, until the number of cases began to rise in the Las Vegas area, especially among the elderly. Mirza recounts watching as the patients of CompassionCare Hospice nursing homes became depressed due to the isolation that was occurring.
Only after being bombarded by thermometers at every corner, Mirza is finally allowed to enter into the nursing home. As many of us now know, being trapped in a room all day is nothing to be excited about, but being trapped by yourself, not being able to see your families in your final days, pushed some of her patients over the edge and caused their unfortunate death. Mirza states, “It’s sad, because sometimes my patients didn’t even pass from COVID, but depression because they were isolated and kept away from their families.”
Mirza further conveys her feelings of sadness when asked if she has cared for patients who have died from COVID-19. “It’s never been easy for me to see a patient pass away, you know, this is someone’s parent or grandparent, but the nature of COVID makes my elderly patients much more susceptible to contract the disease, which makes it harder for me to see them go.”
Next, Mirza and I discussed the differing procedures of working at a hospice during the pandemic. She emphasized the importance of wearing personal protection equipment (PPE) even if you are not a medical professional. “I know I sound like a broken record, but I really can’t emphasize how important masks and other PPE are in slowing the spread of COVID-19, cases are finally starting to go down, and the last thing any medical professional wants is to have to keep working in this pandemic.”
Mirza explained to me that before she can go on a visit, she must make a call to verify with the patient or the patient’s family if the patient has been exposed to COVID-19. Also, before Mirza can go to a facility, she must receive a screening. The standard screening includes having your temperature taken and being asked COVID-19 related questions, such as if she has any symptoms, or has recently travelled out of the state.
Safety is Mirza’s number one priority. However, even though she has been excelling in regards to safety procedures, she still unfortunately contracted the virus. “It was horrible. I could barely breathe, I couldn’t smell or taste, and I only had a mild case! I was lucky enough to where I didn’t need to be put on a ventilator, but some of my patients weren’t as lucky as I was. It made me feel so bad that I couldn’t do anything for them.”
Mirza has been dedicated to helping the people in her community that cannot help themselves. Being a hospice nurse is often viewed as not being as important as other fields in the medical career. Mirza hopes that residents of the Las Vegas community will see that we are all in this battle together.
