SAN ANTONIO — It’s second nature for Andrea Enriquez to drape herself in the proper protective equipment.
“I knew what I signed up for. Initially, there was a fear because who wants to become a nurse during the pandemic?” Enriquez says. “I mean it’s a calling, it’s a job, I love coming to work every day.”
Enriquez is a nurse in the Acute Care Unit (ACU) at University Hospital in San Antonio, where she handles COVID-19 patients. Health care workers like Enriquez are adapting to the constant developments with this virus.
“Things are changing every single day. The protocols that we have in the hospital, the plans when there’s emergency’s and that kind of stuff, it changes. We roll with it,” Enriquez says. “But it’s not as intimidating as people think it is to come in to work every day.”
The ratio of COVID-19 patients per nurse in the ACU, is three-to-one.
“They are typical patients just like anybody else. They just have an existing condition that needs caring for,” Enriquez says. “We have a lot of fun taking care of these patients. The patients are so grateful and they make it worth it every single day.”
As of July 15, there are 7,968 cases in Bexar County that have resulted in a full recovery, a fulfilling victory for the nurses and the patients.
“I’ve had several that have fully recovered and they are so grateful. I’ve had them tell me ‘thank you for saving my life,’” Enriquez says. “It’s not about saving their lives, they do a lot of it on their own. They just need that little bit of guidance.”
Enriquez recently hit her one-year mark at University Hospital, but on the same day, she lost a loved one to COVID-19.
“My grandmother’s brother passed away yesterday from COVID and granted, he was in his 90s, but it still hits home,” Enriquez says. “It’s something that I am more devoted to taking care of my patients because I don’t want someone’s family to go through what I’m going through.”
San Antonio has well over 21,000 cases and hospitals across the city are becoming overwhelmed, which is why Enriquez urges San Antonians to take this crisis seriously.
“The patients we have, they are younger, they are older, they are middle aged and it hurts us to see these patients coming in,” Enriquez says. “It doesn’t matter what age they are. If they can prevent it, if somebody can prevent it, then please take all precautions possible.”
When nurses leave their assigned rooms, they change their gloves, wipe down their face shields and wash their hands again. Then they throw on a new pair of gloves and mask. However, these proper precautions don’t stop for health care workers when their shifts end.
“Before I even get out of the hospital I wash my clothes, I get to my car, I change my shoes. I get home, I take those clothes and I drop them in the washer, drop even the clothes I change into, in the washer,” Enriquez says. “Take a shower, clean up and put fresh clean clothes on.”
Enriquez believes efforts done by health care workers and folks in the community can have a profound impact.
“Everybody’s who is in a hospital working to keep these patients safe, thank you so much for everything that you’ve done,” Enriquez says. “We as nurses cannot do it without you. It all takes a team. It takes a family. It takes a community to take care of these patients.”