Nurse Rachel Qi shares her story.
You may think it’s a monotonous job to give hundreds of patients COVID-19 vaccines a day, but for me, a nurse immuniser, it’s an honour to care for all of the people who are struggling through this pandemic and another round of lockdown.
My day working at Parkes Street General Practice normally starts with a half an hour train ride from Wollongong to Helensburgh, if the sky is clear, the morning view outside of the train window is quite enjoyable. But that’s as much leisure time as I can get before finishing a day’s work, because the day is going to get really busy with hundreds of patients coming into our clinic to get their shots.
After arriving at work, my first job is drawing up the vaccines, which is a very important preparation process so that patients don’t have to wait that long and can get their shot as soon as they arrive.
Some patients find the online registration difficult, and that’s when our lovely receptionists’ step in and help these people with registration on their arrival, they then give them queuing tickets and help them sit down in the waiting room. Most of the time there would be three nurses working on giving injections simultaneously. Sufficient working staff combined with our great queueing system reduces patients’ waiting time greatly and makes our work more effective and efficient.
The majority of patients who we have cared for have been excited to be able to come and receive their Covid-19 vaccination here. I can feel their excitement from the laughter coming out from each injection room from time to time.
We also know how satisfied the patients are with us from all the chocolates and “thank you” cards that we receive from them. It’s really heartwarming to hear how appreciative they are. In times of lockdown, it makes it even more special to see happy, smiling patients.
Of course, sometimes I have patients coming into our clinic feeling anxious and nervous about having the vaccine, in which case, I try to talk to them and comfort them with patience and my professional knowledge, to make sure the patients are completely comfortable to receive the shot.
At Parkes Street General Practice and Respiratory Clinic, I work with an amazing group of super-human people, and we are a family here. Here, we provide the best service to our patients and do our absolute best to help them to get through this tough time.
To our patients, I would like to say: the impact of COVID-19 is very difficult, but just know that we’re here.