Michelle shares her redeployment story and praises 'amazing' ICU staff
Michelle Dable has praised the “amazing” Intensive Care Unit (ICU) staff at Royal Derby Hospital as she shared her experiences of being redeployed to the unit during both the first and second waves of the pandemic.
In 2008, Michelle joined the Trust as a Healthcare Assistant (HCA) in Gynaecology Clinics, before making the move to Gynaecology Theatres in 2012, and she qualified as an Assistant Practitioner in 2018.
Michelle, who lives in Derby, was redeployed to ICU for a second time in around October 2020 after spending time on the unit during the first wave earlier in the year and she said that this time, it has been a different experience:
“At first I was apprehensive and I was a bit overwhelmed. The patients seemed different in this second wave compared to the first. They were younger and more of them were awake and so we built relationships with them and then if they had to be intubated because they were struggling with their breathing, it was hard to see that.
“The way that the team work in ICU is totally different and the treatment methods are different, too. Working as an HCA, I’ve been doing lots of work directly caring for patients, such as personal care and washing, which has been nice as it’s different to what I’m used to working in theatres.
“It has been very hard. Sometimes, you just go home and cry. I’ve been able to speak to my friends and my partner to offload when I’ve needed them, but sometimes it is just really hard and just can’t do that.”
Despite the differences between the two departments, 47-year-old Michelle has enjoyed her time in ICU and is thankful to the team for the support they have given to her and other colleagues who have also been redeployed to the unit.
She said: “The team here have been amazing. We’ve all been invited to the regular debriefing meetings, where you can talk about anything and get things off your chest, and they’ve been really helpful.
“The support has been really good between the redeployed staff, too. We’ve all stuck together and that’s been good because each of us knows exactly what we’re all going through.”
Michelle’s redeployment is set to end shortly, and she said that she’ll leave ICU with a heavy heart after spending several months there:
“I’ll be sad to leave; I’ve really enjoyed it here. I’d just like to say a massive thank you to everyone in ICU for accepting me into the team, you’ve all been absolutely amazing.”