Physician assistant Samantha Danek has seen the ravages of COVID-19 on the front lines as she was redeployed from neurosurgery this spring to care for patients on specialized units at Henry Ford Allegiance Health in Jackson.
Born and raised in Ypsilanti, Danek received a master's degree in physician assistant studies at Wayne State University in 2009. As the COVID-19 pandemic struck, she began pursuing another master's in health administration at the University of Michigan.
"My experiences have led me to understand that our patients deserve better care," said Danek, who has specialized in emergency medicine, hospitalist medicine and now is back working in neurosurgery.
But Danek said she is disheartened by the number of people who refuse to wear masks and say they do not believe masks help reduce the spread of coronavirus.
"It is a simple thing to wear a mask. Whatever your thoughts are on it, just wear it because there are so many people hurting and it's the least we can do to protect people" and also health care workers, Danek said.
During this fall surge, hundreds of health care workers have tested positive for COVID-19. Contact tracing has shown the majority of providers contracted the virus in the community, not at work.
Danek said the increasing volumes of patients coming into hospitals for COVID-19 has everyone guessing how bad it might get this winter and into the spring before a vaccine can stop the spread. Meanwhile, the human toll continues to mount.
"My last patient was an elderly lady from a rehabilitation facility who recently had major back surgery. Her daughter met her for the appointment and it was the first time she saw her in six weeks. The mother was not doing well. My patient hesitated coming to the appointment because she didn't want to get transferred to the emergency room. Of course, that was my recommendation. The daughter asked me to give her a minute because she knew she couldn't go to the emergency room with her mother. She just hugged her like it was the last time she was going to see her. We are seeing this too often. It is just heartbreak and devastation to us and patients in the community.
"We all knew this was going to be a marathon. Nothing can prepare you for this type of uncertainty. ... We continue to lean on each other for support to fight back hopeless feelings. This too will end and then we can really focus on supporting preventative care and self care, which does not come naturally to many providers like us."
"back" - Google News
December 13, 2020 at 12:10PM
https://ift.tt/3oP81rA
Samantha Danek: Health care workers are 'fighting back hopeless feelings' - Crain's Detroit Business
"back" - Google News
https://ift.tt/2QNOfxc
Shoes Man Tutorial
Pos News Update
Meme Update
Korean Entertainment News
Japan News Update
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "Samantha Danek: Health care workers are 'fighting back hopeless feelings' - Crain's Detroit Business"
Post a Comment