The Sunday Mail
Vivian Mugarisi
WHILE many have withdrawn their services demanding better remuneration, some healthcare workers in Zimbabwe continue to be driven by the Hippocratic Oath and the Nightingale Pledge, putting their lives on the line in the fight against Covid-19.
The pandemic continues to wreak havoc, with local infections and deaths surging.
At a time when companies are letting employees work from home in an attempt to shield them from contracting coronavirus, Bertha Chihota, a nurse at Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals, Zimbabwe’s biggest referral health centre, is one of the few nurses still reporting for duty.
In an interview with The Sunday Mail last week, she said resources were scarce and it has not been easy, but she took an oath and wants to stand by it come what may.
She has been on the frontline of the pandemic response since June 9 when Parirenyatwa Hospital opened its Covid-19 centre.
Chihota, who is one of the team leaders in the Covid-19 centre, said her job was taxing mentally and physically, but the idea of helping even just one person per day makes it worthwhile.
“It is a mixed bag of emotions; it has been a roller-coaster. I knew what I was getting myself into because the disease is infectious and there is always a chance that I will contract it because I am not immune,” said Chihota.
“The most depressing part is that I have lost friends and even family because of this disease. They started to stigmatise me, they won’t talk to me. Even the most educated people in our society still alienate relatives and friends working within the health sector.
“It is so difficult. You cannot really force a person to keep on talking to you. It’s on them to learn and understand the disease and come back to you. So the only friends available are my colleagues because some out there are no longer picking my calls. I was even asked if I was on a death mission or something by choosing to work in the red zone.”
Saving lives and helping people is her passion and mission — no matter the consequences.
“When I started working in the Covid-19 centre, I realised that people there needed someone to take care of them. I had to take that responsibility.
“When you are ill that is the time you need your relatives close to you to hold your hand, so I decided to be the bridge between the patient and the relatives. I chose it and told myself I was going to work. I know because of my love, one of them will get up and go home completely healed.”
Hope
Chihota hopes the impasse between the Government and healthcare workers will be resolved soon so that more nurses return to work.
“We are getting pressure from some of our colleagues who are asking why we are still reporting for duty when the bulk of nurses are on strike,” she said.
Chihota said various organisations have been coming through with Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and food for the patients.
She said efforts should be made to improve the diet of their patients and that of staff, who are now working eight-hour shifts.
Chihota saluted other healthcare workers, including non-clinical staff, whom she said have been making their work bearable.
Martin Musekiwa, the Swabbing Team leader at the same institution, said when the outbreak of the coronavirus disease was first reported, everyone thought that being Covid-19 positive was a death sentence.
The first instinct, he said, was to protect oneself. He believes that this fuelled stigma and sadly caused most people in communities not to take time to understand the virus.
“We looked at Covid-19 as a monster because we had seen reports from Italy, US and other countries that were affected first and we were so fearful that even when the hospital was setting up the Covid-19 red zone, the uptake was with mixed feelings,” he said.
“As an individual I felt it was my responsibility to help, while at the same time I knew I was putting my family at risk because there was no guarantee that I would be protected.
“Stigma is real and it is a big issue. If a patient needs an X-ray and is suspected to have Covid-19, unlike what has been happening before, departments cannot share that machine because there is fear of contracting the disease,” Musekiwa added.
At least 480 healthcare workers have tested positive for Covid-19 since the outbreak of the disease.
Musekiwa believes that if more nurses were to return to work, the available PPE would not be enough for everyone.
More PPEs need to be procured to ensure that those on the frontline remain protected.
Health Services Board chairperson Dr Paulinus Sikhosana said negotiations with workers on better conditions of service were still ongoing, albeit informally, and hopes that the parties will reach an agreement soon.
Zimbabwe Nurses Association president Enock Dongo said nurses are still holding out for United States salaries.
“The demands of the nurses remain the same, and these are the issues of salaries and the provision of adequate PPE to ensure that nurses are fully protected from Covid-19 when they go back to work.”
Dongo thanked Government for reinstating the nurses who had been removed from the payroll.
Despite all these setbacks, some nurses like Chihota and Musekiwa are still showing up everyday with the hope that one day, all issues bedevilling health delivery in Zimbabwe will be a thing of the past.
