Currently, the environment is highly hostile even for the people staying inside their houses. So Hatke Story has brought this ‘Tales of Corona Survivors’ series to spread positivity and awareness among the crowd. We will be featuring social workers, corona patients, doctors, nurses, and their families in this series. Only to tell you what is going on the ground.
To add to this series, we got connected to Shobhana Pathania. She resides in Chandigarh with her family. Shobhana is serving as a nurse in GMCH hospital. For her work in waste management and the medical field, she received the president’s National Florence Nightingale Nurse Award.
She worked throughout the covid period and was the first vaccine volunteer of the hospital. During the second wave, it was very challenging for her to witness the mayhem and things around her. It drained her physically and emotionally.
We wanted to know her journey and appreciate her efforts, so we connected with her to know more about her life and experience. So here is another covid story for you. Let’s hear it from her.
Shobhana Pathania – My Story
I’m Shobhana Pathania, and I work as a nurse in Chandigarh GMCH Hospital. My life has been a roller coaster ride, and it has given me remarkable experiences, and these teachings make me what I am today. One of the greatest lessons I learned is serving others, which is why I donate a substantial amount from my salary each month. Also, I teach my kids to do the same.
I was born and brought up in Kalka. We were three sisters, and my father was a driver on the railway. Once a Christian advised my father to put me in the nursing profession as he noticed a sense of humanity and will to serve others. That’s how I came into the nursing profession, and it brought a massive change in my life.
During my duties, I loved being around patients and taking care of them. I was put up in the surgery ward most of the time, so I used to keep their wards organized, neat, and clean. Every morning, I would go to the patients to ask about their healthy beings and if they had had their food and medicine or not. I always treated them as a part of my family.
Their reviews reached the authorities, and I was chosen for the National Florence Nightingale Nurse Award. The achievement added feathers to my success. I received many other awards and worked in the bio-medical waste field.
All my hard work paid off when I won these awards, but along with the hard work, my family’s support had a hand in taking me to that position. Especially my husband because throughout the journey, he stood as my backbone. I still remember before my marriage, one of our relatives had said, ‘Why did you send her to the medical profession? It’s a 24*7 job. It would be tough to get her married. She will have to give up on her career to raise her kids.’ At that time, his remark had angered me as I never believed in giving up.
In my opinion, women were never weak but social pressure, restrictions, expectations, and obligations made us weak. People, families, and society force us to give up on our individuality. I hope now it will stop happening to women. The era is gone. It’s a new time, so we must leave the backward mindset in the past only.
Luckily, my husband turned out to be precisely the opposite of what my relative had said. He supported me in all the possible ways a man can support a woman. He took care of our home, spoon-fed our kids when I was on duty. During my night duties, he stayed awake to look after our kids, who were toddlers at that time. People say that a woman has to give up on her career after marriage or after becoming a mother, but in my case, it took off when I got married and became a mother. For me, with my family being around, the journey was beautiful. I loved each phase of it.
However, the biggest challenge came during the pandemic. In 2020 March, when the pandemic happened, I had gone through surgery a month ago, and only my ward had corona-positive patients. While joining, my director offered to put me in another ward, but I denied stating that I wanted to do it. It’s been one and a half years since I’ve been serving in the corona ward.
I wanted to shift to the hostel or take a different room, but my husband objected. He said, ‘We were together in good times. I’m not going to leave you alone during this phase. We will go through it together. Serve others and set an example of humanity, but we will live together. I’m here to support you.’ His words boosted my morale, and I began to work as a Corona warrior while staying in the same house with him.
Working in the corona ward brought myriad experiences. Initially, everyone was scared of touching each other, checking and treating patients, and returning to our homes. Wearing a PPE kit was another challenge. Trust me, I have seen my juniors collapsing on the ground due to suffocation, hunger, sweat, and heat.
Doctors only do rounds to monitor patients and suggest medication from time to time, but nurses stay around them 24*7. In the corona ward, we are their family. I treated them similarly. That’s why rather than going back to my home, I used to stay back as long as I could. I celebrated all the festivals with my patients to cheer them up. Working in the surgery ward is normal, but in the covid ward, medical staff is all a patient has, and we take care of them like a family only. Through these things, we somehow managed the first wave.
The worst happened when the second wave was on peak. The death toll, lack of oxygen, medicines, staff, beds, and equipment were India’s biggest hindrances while dealing with the virus. However, our hospital administration managed it too well. We didn’t face any shortage, and throughout the time, they supported doctors and the rest of the staff.
The new variant was much more deadly compared to the last one. It affected human lungs drastically and made them breathless. Youngsters couldn’t fathom their low oxygen levels, and in some cases, it took their lives.
We were already vaccinated twice by that time, but even during the vaccination drive, people were hesitant. Not only patients but medical staff and doctors refused to take the shot. I volunteered to take the shot, and I was the first person vaccinated in the hospital. My kids were angry at me for volunteering, but it didn’t affect my decision.
At present, vaccine hesitancy has gone down, and people are much more aware and alert. However, it’s still there in some minds. I hope people take the vaccine without fearing its outcome. It helps in dealing with the impact of coronavirus. Through vaccines, we can deal with the pandemic.
The situation is under control for now, but we haven’t gotten rid of it. The third wave is around the corner. Honestly, I feel furious when I see people behaving recklessly and not taking enough safety precautions even after what we have gone through a few months ago. When I see a crowd without a mask, I remember the horrors of the second wave. Flashes of people dying and their families crying for them rush back to me.
There were times when I witnessed kids crying for their parents or parents crying for their kids. I wanted to console them, but I couldn’t go near them. That’s the worst that happens in the pandemic. It’s hard to deal with the helplessness and loneliness this virus brings along.
Shobhana Pathania receiving recognitionSo please stay careful, take enough precautions, get your vaccine, and motivate others to take it too. We can fight this deadly pandemic through society’s support and help stop the third wave from coming to our country. As a society, we need to work together to save our country from this dangerous virus. Remember, once is a mistake but twice or thrice is always a choice. The second wave occurred due to carelessness, and the third wave will also come if we don’t stay safe.
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