James-Allen
STONY BROOK — Juanita James-Allen, a CSEA activist and licensed practical nurse (LPN) at Stony Brook University Hospital who normally works in the emergency room, is also working at COVID-19 triage sites in the hospital’s South P parking lot and helipad.
In the South P lot, patients are tested by a doctor, who then evaluates the patient to see if that person can go home or needs to go into the main hospital.
“At the helipad, we’re treating [COVID-19] symptoms and trying to make patients comfortable,” James-Allen said. “If they need to be admitted, we do that.”
Despite the hospital’s measures to isolate COVID-19 patients, James-Allen said they are located throughout the hospital.
“We’re exposed daily,” she said. “We’re just doing the best we can to protect ourselves. In the beginning, it was scary because we didn’t know what patients contracted the virus, and which ones had not. The policies are changing every day. Now, we don’t go near a patient without having on PPE.”
The pandemic is having an emotional effect on health care staff everywhere, and James-Allen is no exception.
“It’s scary because you don’t know what to expect from day-to-day,” she said. “Before I go to work, my stomach gets upset due to my worry about being around this virus and the uncertainty about what the day will bring. It’s a scary thing. Everyone is overworked and stressed. We’re worried about exposing our families to what we’ve been exposed to at work.”
“Although our patients are very ill, they’re very thankful for our help,” she said. “I’m glad that I can help them. It makes me feel good. ”
— Wendi Bowie
