SNF
musings

April 3, 2020 -- I have had the good fortune to remain in contact with the best of my teachers from the various levels of my education. In grad school, among my most inspired and inspiring were Drs. Azad Bolour and Hyo Kim who, at UCSF, taught, respectively, databases (essential to my work to this day) and emergency medicine (that informed my stints as an ER nurse).

They read my recent blog about SNFs and, unsurprisingly, had insightful (and, again, inspiring) responses.

"I congratulate you for being so brave to volunteer your services to the emergency situation. You may want to describe more of your emotional response which maybe more compelling. Many medical professionals are having debate as to how much to sacrifice of yourself to help in this situation. One small misstep can ruin your own life and end everything. Let us keep updated as to your decision to proceed."

So I have been thinking about that: what are my feelings regarding my SNF patients, an elderly population with numerous comorbid chronic conditions? What are my feelings about SNFs? And what about the risks I take in working in a Covid-19-ridden SNF? Read my diary.

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