Baystate Noble Hospital nurses Paul Dubin and Dennise Colson in March, 2020 (HOPE E. TREMBLAY/THE WESTFIELD NEWS
WESTFIELD – Baystate Noble surgical nurse Dennise Colson is in self-quarantine in her Southwick home as she awaits results from a COVID-19 test.
Colson was tested April 2 after spending a week at home after discovering she had been in contact with a patient who tested positive for the coronavirus. Colson said she was helping out in the emergency department March 24 when she assisted with a patient who did not come in for COVID-19 symptoms.
“I drew labs, started an IV . . . I was wearing gloves, but we weren’t wearing masks then,” said Colson. “Even though the patient wasn’t there for presenting COVID-19 symptoms, the doctor had an instinct and had him tested.”
Colson described the emergency department as having “clean” and “dirty” areas to distinguish COVID-19 patients from those at the department for other reasons. She said the patient she helped was considered “clean” when he came in.
While waiting for those results, Colson continued working. She said she triaged 10 patients that day, without wearing a mask.
Later that week Emergency Department staff were told to wear masks, but many of them may have already been exposed, including Colson.
Colson said there is a shortage of masks and every nurse should be wearing an N95 mask. When asked about other types of masks, including cloth masks being sewed by volunteers in the community, Colson said as of Friday the Massachusetts Nurse’s Association and Baystate Health had not approved use of those masks.
Colson said when she was still working last week, the “dirty” side of the emergency department was about half full with patients presenting COVID-19 symptoms. She suspects that has changed and increased since she last worked.
She self-quarantined as soon as she learned about her patient’s positive results. For the first few days, she felt fine. She developed a cough and on April 2, after a friend told her she believed her cough was getting worse, Colson was tested and said it could take up to six days to receive the result, but could be as soon as two or three days.
Colson was sent to Carew Street in Springfield where Baystate Health has a testing tent.
“The nurses there were covered in PPE (personal protective equipment) from head to toe,” Colson said. “God bless them.”
Colson has been a registered nurse since 1998 and has worked at Baystate Noble for 18 years and said what they are experiencing is unprecedented.
“I have never seen anything like this,” she said. “It’s horrible.”
Colson described the situation at the hospital as “overwhelming” and said staff members are tired. While she believes the worst is yet to come, Colson said she was not personally scared, however her husband is autoimmune compromised and quarantined with her. Her biggest worry as she waits for her result is for her mother-in-law who is elderly and lives alone.
“We went to see her every day, so she doesn’t get why we can’t come over,” Colson said. “We talk on the phone all the time and she is lonely.”
Colson said people often ask what the community can do to help healthcare workers, particularly those in hospitals, and she had two words for them: “Stay home.”
“Stay home and if you have to go out, wash your hands and keep your distance,” she said. “Follow guidelines. Do the least that you have to do, and if you feel sick, call your primary care physician. That’s how people can help.”
