nursingforsocialjustice

Living through this pandemic is something that will deeply impact my life, and the lives of my children. We have been distancing in our home for almost 2 weeks. Tomorrow, my three older children will remain home on an indefinite break from school, my youngest will remain home on an indefinite break from daycare, and my partner and I will continue to work remotely. I will continue to work remotely until a possible redeployment to a direct care area. My partner has a job that allows him to work from home.

As these 2 weeks have passed I am concerned about the outcomes of this Covid crisis. I am also liking being home with my kids, not having to sit in traffic and hour at the beginning and end of each day, and being able to see my kids and partner during my work day. I like sharing an office space with my partner (I don’t know if he would say the same), I like being able to go upstairs after work and spend time with my kids right away. I don’t feel lonely, because I have 4 kids, my partner and my mom. But I do understand that many people are not in the same situation, and they may be experiencing social isolation and heartbreaking loneliness right now.

I recall a time, before I was married and before we had children, when my partner travelled 75% of the time for work. At the time I worked in an acute care mental health setting. I recall how lonely and distant I felt from life, only going to work and home, not even having the energy (emotional or physical) to reach out to anyone when I had days off. I know there are nurses and healthcare workers experiencing the same thing but 10 times more because of the psychological toll of Contact droplet precautions and the ominous tone of the system right now, coupled with having to go home and not being able to go anywhere to connect with anyone other than through electronic means. My eldest child was so emotionally overwhelmed the other day, missing school and missing her friends, not seeing other people, that she couldn’t stop crying and couldn’t pinpoint the reason why. I suspect many others are experiencing the same thing. Now, more than over we can see how many essential the connection that we have to other people is, how important it is.

Some of our have our Netflix and our smart phones, our giant flat screen televisions, and our tablets. Those tools can keep us occupied, they can keep us in communication, but do they keep us connected? Do we need more? The most important thing that is getting me through this crisis right now are my wonderful, infuriating, curious, emotional children. Now, more than ever we can see the importance is relationships, of togetherness. We do not know how long this pandemic will last, we do not know how long we will be physically distant from one another. But, at the end of this, I think it is a time for us, as a global whole, to reflect on what is important in a time when a large-scale emergency can happen and how we can work together to get through it. I think it is important to develop a strategy to install in us, from a young age, that we are all in this together, and together is the only way we can get through these crises.

Peace and Love,

Michelle D.