Advocate BroMenn Nurse Tech’s New Reality

Photo courtesy to BroMenn Medical Center Facebook page 

NORMAL, Ill.- Everyone is adjusting to the new reality that came with Governor J.B Pritzker’s “Stay-At-Home” order sent out March 20.

First Responders are still working to combat this virus.

Advocate BroMenn Medical Center Nurse Tech Jessica Wenberg works in the Intensive Care Unit and the Cardiovascular Care Unit.

Day-in and day-out she takes vitals, checks blood sugars, runs electrocardiograms (EKGs), assists patients with activities of daily living (ADLs) and assists the nurses in anything they need help with.

“The scariest parts of working in a hospital with the new reality of COVID-19 among us is, as a tech, I am constantly in and out of all of my patients rooms and so there is a greater amount of contact I am having with the patients, which leads to a higher risk of disease transmission,” said Wenberg.

According to Wenberg, this risk is reduced with using proper hand washing and personal protective equipment (PPE).

This includes gowns, gloves, masks and eye shields, but supplies are dwindling all across the country due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I am fearful that there will be a time when we will not have the supplies to safely care for our patients,” said Wenberg.

Wenberg actually doubles as a nursing student at Illinois State University, and with the cancellation of all face-to-face courses she believes that going to online classes was the best decision.

“We should be doing anything we can right now to help stop the spread of COVID-19 and help ‘flatten the curve.’ There is a chance that you may have the disease and not know it for some time,” said Wenberg.

She practices staying healthy on and off the clock.

Wenberg said she is eating a healthy, balanced diet, drinking lots of water, taking multivitamins and Vitamin-C pills every day.

She is frequently washing her hands and is not touching her face.

“When I get out in the parking deck at my job, I immediately switch shoes so I am not carrying the germs into my car or my house,”said Wenberg.

“When I get home I throw my dirty scrubs in the washer so I am not sitting on my furniture and potentially spreading any type of germs I picked up at the hospital, and then I shower to clean off anything I could possibly have on me from work.”

When she is not at work, she practices social distancing herself.

“I am social distancing myself from my roommate and my boyfriend in case I picked up anything at work, and I don’t want to transmit it to them,” said Wenberg.

For more information on COVID-19, contact the McLean County Health Department, the Illinois Department of Public Health or visit idph.illinois.gov (http://www.dph.illinois.gov/covid19) for questions and more information.