Snow week: lessons learnt

This past week the UK has been hit with some awful weather. In the whole scheme of things around the world the weather was not too bad compared to the likes of Canada but the snow fall was enough to bring the transport system to its knees, shops ran out of food, no milk could be found anywhere. The entire country was suffering. Mainly the suffering came because as a country we are ill equipped to deal with any snow other than a light dusting.

Schools were shut, offices were shut as well, public transport couldn’t run. If you had any vehicle other than a 4×4 you would struggle to make even the shortest of journeys. The news bulletins spoke about the red warning where only essential travel should be done and if possible everyone should stay at home. This is all very well if you have an office job, or work in a shop. When you work in an essential service like the police, fire service, ambulance service or in the hospital there is no snow day for you. Health doesn’t get better or standstill and wait for the weather to get better so people can get into work and get their job done.

As I work as a nurse we don’t automatically get to stay home because the hospital never shuts, healthcare continues. I was fortunate that I have a 4×4 so I could move around the city with relative ease however I heard fo colleagues taking 3 hours to get to work as they had to walk the 8km to get in while dealing with blizzard conditions. I could only commend those who put such effort in. I could do my bit and take the night shift from the renal ward home and pick up some people who were stranded on their way to the hospital. It was a great sense of team work and really what the NHS is about. As I walked through the ward there were Dr’s taking beds helping with washes, consultants taking bloods and everyone just mucking in to help. Some nurses were staying in the hospital over night to ensure they could work the next day. I have utmost respect for those who did that.

For me my role in the snow was returning to a role I loved. In our department we have a certain number of patients we have to see everyday and set their dialysis machines up at home. Since my breathing has got worse I have been hospital based and not been able to visit patients at home but for 2 days last week we had to use my car to get to patients as the pool cars which are Vauxhall Corsa’s didnt stand a chance in the snow, so for me to drive and allow the nurses to get the machines set up was a no brainer. I was able to pop in and say Hi to some of the patients who I haven’t seen in ages which was really nice.

I have mixed feelings now about the snow melting. When it was really snowy my asthma was a little better as the air felt so much clearer and fresh. That damp feeling had gone but as the weather improves the damp feeling has returned and breathing is not as great.  I m also glad that the snow is melting because I was having to do a lot more hours than I had previously been doing. I was essentially working 8-4/5 rather than 9-3:15. At the time I didnt feel like it was  a struggle however this weekend has been a right off. I have felt exhausted. My chest has been bothering me. I haven’t been able to sleep because of my chest and I really do think it is a mix of doing a lot more at work and the change in weather. I need to remember this feeling and ensure I don’t forget why I am only working shorter hours than I had previously. Part of me always wondered if I would be able to work longer hours but this has confirmed that I really cant. I wouldn’t change what I did at all but it is something to take note of.

Leaving from work on Friday late afternoon nearly caused me a huge problem and I was so thankful that I have a portable nebuliser which I could use. I do go on about smoking and the effects of people smoking has on my chest but the snow days have been even worse and made it very dangerous for me essentially leaving me questioning why I continue to try and keep working when just getting into or leaving work can pose such a risk (but that is for another post).

Fingers crossed this week everything will return to normal, public transport will be back up and running and the snow will melt away without causing huge floods around the city and country.