PASIFIKA NURSE ON THE FRONTLINE - COVID19 TESTING
Name: Saunima’a Josephine Samuelu
Villages: Falefa, Apia, Papa Sataua.
Profession: Registered Nurse working in Auckland New Zealand.
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Where are you currently situated?
Auckland. My job in the COVID-19 Crisis is a COVID-19 Nurse Responder stationed to work at the Community Based Assessment Clinics (CBAC) to test people for COVID-19. I’m part of the team of Alliance Health Plus Nurse Responders to work at the CBAC testing stations across Auckland.
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Describe what you do on the daily?
Every nurse is allocated to a CBAC team. There are currently 6 CBAC testing stations across Auckland. I’ve worked at the CBAC Panmure and now stationed at the CBAC Northshore, 3 Akoranga Road. The CBAC Northshore testing station is accessible for people who live in Auckland central, West and Northshore areas.
Before we start our day, we have a team briefing led by the team Operations Coordinator who is a nurse. The briefing involves a prayer, allocated tasks (so that everyone is clear about what they’re doing i.e. Security people, nurses, admin, volunteers). Nurses discuss triage and swabbing protocols and procedures, go through administration procedures, checking of clinical and admin equipment, discuss any changes to our clinical and administration processes and reminders about wearing PPE and hand washing.
After the briefing everyone suits up in the PPE. Nurses wear full Personal Protective Equipment i.e. Eye protectors, masks, gowns and gloves.
Then we go outside to set up our stations. There are 2 or 3 tents set up in every CBAC testing station, where different tasks are done by the nurses doctors and admin.
I’ve been working as a Triage Nurse. My role is the first point of contact when people drive into our stations. People stay in their cars during the entire process. Only the driver has their window down so that I can do my assessment directly with them.
There are questions I ask to assess whether a person needs to be swabbed for COVID-19 and I also observe how they look, talk, sound, etc. Nurses use nursing assessment skills and clinical judgement to determine, those who are symptomatic or are at risk, to be swabbed and inform the swabbing station. I also check with another nurse if I have a query so team work and clear communication is really important.
Questions nurses ask: Have you travelled overseas in the last 14 days? Are you a Health Worker or Essential Worker? Do you have a fever/sore throat/difficulty breathing? If so, how long have you been feeling unwell? (We take their temperature if they have a fever) Have you been in Self Isolation? How long for? Have you been in close contact with someone who is suspected or has COVID-19? We will also ask other questions, depending on the circumstance of the person we are triaging. We record all this information on the forms as well as their personal details. Paperwork is then given to our administrators to process.
If a person needs to be swabbed, then they proceed to the swabbing station, where another nurse uses a swab to insert into a persons’ nose, secures it in a test tube to be sent off to the lab with the person’s paperwork. This part of the process is uncomfortable but only takes a second for us to do. We swab adults and children. It takes 48 hours for test results to come back and the person is notified.
Triaging can take around 20 mins or longer, depending on the number of people in the car, if English is a second language, etc.
Some days we see 50 – 80 people a day in one CBAC and when it’s hot every day like the last week, we are very exhausted by the end of the day.
How challenging is it for you and how worried are you about health and safety?
Responding to a health crisis is not new to me. In my nursing career, I’ve worked as a Practice Nurse in very busy Emergency Care clinics in Otara and Manukau and I enjoy this type of work. I was also part of the Samoa Health Mission Nurses – Day 1 Tsunami Response team in 2009 and follow up in 2010 and also helped out with the recent Measles Epidemic in Samoa. All of these events have had its challenges but this COVID-19 Pandemic is totally different mainly because it’s here in my own country and city where I live. That’s what’s scary for me. I am worried about the health and safety of myself and my family because being a Frontline health worker, I’m most at-risk of this Pandemic that we are still learning about on a daily basis. I’ve read and listened to the experiences of health workers from the other countries who have been badly affected by Coronavirus – China, Italy, USA and it’s devastating. I’ve been reading update reports from Scientists and Doctors about this disease to try and understand how I can take better care of myself and my family and also on how to be more vigilant as a Nurse when I’m out working in the Front line. I talk to my nursing colleagues every day so I’m kept updated and also check in to see how they’re doing. The uncertainty is scary. However, we know that people who were unwell from COVID-19 have recovered and that’s encouraging.
At home I’m always telling my kids to wash their hands and keep everything clean. No one goes out anywhere unless I say so. I’m also in regular contact with my parents, siblings and family to do the same.
How important is it to have Pacific people at the frontline?
It’s critical for our Pacific people to be at the frontline in this type of worldwide Pandemic so that our Pasefika families are well informed about what’s going on. There are so many mixed messages, stories and scare-mongering going on that our people can easily become mis-informed, misled and end up getting very sick, making others sick or make people panic unnecessarily.
Many of our families live in intergenerational households and complying with the public health prevention advice is challenging so information and advice relayed by our Pacific people in our Pacific languages and through our Pacific approaches is important.
Our Pacific people feel reassured when they see one of their own helping or working in the field during COVID-19 and are more likely to ask us for advice and guidance than someone who is not Pacific. Pacific frontline health professionals are the people who are better informed about what’s going on and what our community need to know. We can communicate it in our Pacific languages for our elderly and those who don’t speak or understand English, so they know how to keep themselves and their families safe and well too.
How many Pacific people are you seeing getting tested?
Pacific people are starting to go to the CBAC testing stations because they’re becoming more aware of where we are and what we do. More Pacific people are being tested at the South Auckland CBAC testing stations in Mangere and Takanini. As more Pacific people know about the CBAC testing stations, more will go get tested. So far a total of 19 Pacific people in New Zealand have been tested positive for COVID-19 or are probable cases. It’s good that it’s low at the moment and hopefully it will stay low.
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Do you think enough of our community are being Covid safe?
Our community are aware of COVID-19 and the rules and laws that are now enforced by the Government. This Pandemic is affecting our Pacific people more because many would have lost their jobs so trying to be Covid-safe is tricky for many of our Pacific families. I think our families are trying to be Covid safe as much as they can, but if you’ve lost a main income source, food on the table would probably be more important than buying more soap to wash hands. Our people are resourceful and will do their best to stay safe and stay at home, wash their hands, wear gloves, masks, physical distancing, as much as possible.
I think what would help our Pacific families to be Covid safe are ongoing messages in our Pacific languages on how to be safe, where to go if they’re worried they might have COVID-19 or may have been exposed to someone with COVID-19, or are feeling sick and to given food/supply packages especially to low income families that has extra soap and cleaning agents so they can be Covid safe and get through this Pandemic without getting sick.
Can you tell us where and how Pacific people should come to get tested and what the process is?
There are 6 Community Based Assessment Centres (CBAC) across Auckland open where you can be tested for free, from 8am – 4.30pm, Monday to Sunday.
Shorecare Northcross, Corner Otheha Valley Road & East Coast Road, Northcross.
Henderson Specialist Centre, 131 Lincoln Road, Henderson.
Whitecross St Lukes, 52 St Lukes Road, St Lukes.
Local Doctors Airport Oaks, 149a Kirkbride Road, Mangere.
Takanini Urgent Care Centre, 106 Grat South Road, Takanini.
CBAC Northshore, 3 Akoranga Road, Northshore behind the AUT Health Centre.
Plus CBAC Panmure at 161 Queens Road, Panmure behind Langimalie Clinic.
Come to be tested if you have answered yes to 2 or more of the following questions:
Have you travelled overseas in the last 14 days?
Yare you a Health Worker or Essential Worker?
Have you got a fever/sore throat/difficulty breathing?
Have you been in close contact with someone who is suspected or has COVID-19?
If you have been swabbed at a CBAC, it will take 48 hours for results to come through and you will be notified of your result by a Doctor or nurse. You will receive instructions by them regarding what to do if you are positive or negative.
If people are feeling unwell but don’t fit these questions, then they can call their own GP or Healthline.
