TAMMY HEDLEY-EGAS | Mount Sinai Hospital
Tammy Hedley-Egas has been a registered nurse for two decades and was working during the SARS crisis. “At that time, I thought this might be the biggest thing I could see in my career, but now COVID has shut the city down,” she says. Hedley-Egas sought a career in health care after seeing the care her dad received while she was a teenager. “He couldn’t speak, his body was shutting down, and I saw the compassion the nurse had for him. The way she treated him left an impact on me,” she says. A typical workday in labour and delivery has always been unpredictable, says Hedley-Egas, adding that the main difference now is the use of personal protective equipment. “Our operations on the labour and delivery unit haven’t changed. Through this pandemic, people are still giving birth and require C-sections or inductions,” says Hedley-Egas. For patients, Mount Sinai Hospital has implemented entrance screening protocols and has restricted the number of people in the building. “We also screen everyone on our labour and delivery unit and test if needed,” says Hedley-Egas. Keeping her motivated is all the messages she’s receiving. “One of my colleagues has been giving out headbands with buttons on it that we can loop our masks on to help relieve the pressure on our ears,” she says. “We’ve also been receiving food donations from local restaurants, and that really makes our day. These restaurants are struggling themselves but still want to donate.”