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Magic Valley nurses illustrate their experience through COVID-19

Posted at 4:41 PM, Jun 08, 2020
and last updated 2020-06-08 18:41:19-04

TWIN FALLS — Two nurses here in the Magic Valley say their experience through the pandemic has been a little different than nurses who work at a hospital, but things have changed for them as well.

"As a nurse, and Jessie could attest, things change all the time, and we need to expect that because it's necessary, but this has been a whole new level, we come into the office every day, and it seems like something has changed," Serrah West, RN Case Manager for Hospice Visions, said.

And for one nurse, she says her job took a 180 turn when the pandemic hit and things started to change.

"For me, it changed a lot because I used to work just in the office, and then they needed me in the field, so I went from being an office nurse to being 100 percent a field nurse, and that was a change for me. Wasn't used to not coming in," Jessie Vincent, LPN Physical Coordinator, said.

For long-term facilities like hospice care, many of the patients cannot be physically close to their family members because of COVID-19 concerns. When families do come to visit, they have to interact through a window, and they say that has been the hardest part of this process.

"I was talking to my boss earlier and having to see families do window visits when they're allowed, probably one of the hardest things I've seen. I'm fortunate enough to be able to see my family every day. I value that more now than ever, but to imagine having to be isolated and only getting to see them through a window. And now seeing the elderly do that, it's been hard," Vincent said.

Although this has not been a favorable situation, they say they have learned some positive lessons.

"We're not the only essential workers out there, everyone that works at a grocery store or a gas station or everyone that keeps us doing what we do. I think it's made us all slow down and appreciate things more," West said.