“At the hospital, physical distancing quickly evolved to face masks, shields, green scrubs, and scrub caps. Despite daily interactions with my colleagues, everyone became faceless. Outside of work, I was afraid to go home. I feared I would infect my family members who are physically distancing at home.
One of the difficult tasks as a physician is informing families that their loved one is sick and might not survive the hospitalization. At times the family would be at the bedside; other times we would have to call them in. Either way there was an opportunity to say goodbye.
With COVID-19, visitation restrictions have been implemented to keep patients safe. Now informing families that their loved one will likely die while they cannot be at the bedside to say goodbye has ultimately become the harder task for me.
Families have resorted to virtual goodbyes. Their loved ones are surrounded by hospital staff behind masks and gowns, left to die alone in an unfamiliar place despite all efforts to make them as comfortable as possible.
As much as physical distancing has affected all aspects of my life, I can only imagine the impact it has on our patients and their families. I appreciate that we live in a time where there are creative ways to achieve meaningful communication. However nothing can beat face-to-face human interactions.”
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