Bridging the gap of social isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic: A student’s perspective

By Rahul Varghese

Rahul is a nursing student in his final year at the University of Toronto. He recently completed a clinical externship at Michael Garron Hospital where he worked in the Complex Continuing Care unit. During his externship, Rahul became an integral part of the team, partnering with his fellow nurses to deliver compassionate care and assist patients in his unit. This is his perspective. 

During my time at Michael Garron Hospital (MGH), I had the opportunity to learn from exemplary healthcare professionals who regularly demonstrated how MGH cares for its patients. As a nursing clinical extern in the Complex Continuing Care unit, my duties consisted of supporting our long-term care and rehab patients with their daily living activities while also assisting the nurses with medical care.

At the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, I saw a sudden shift in the nature of care required for our patients. The make-up of our patient population changed, with our rehab patients moving to other units and patients who required chronic ventilation being brought in from the ICU.

Because of the pandemic, many of our long-term residents were suddenly left without their regular opportunities for social engagement that they had heavily relied on such as taking part in recreational programming and spending time with family members. In response to this, I saw my fellow healthcare workers step up to bridge the gap of social isolation wherever possible, fostering social connections and building a sense of community.

I had the privilege of being present with patients while fostering these connections: setting up video calls with their families, allowing them to participate in their conditioning exercises, planning surprise birthday videos and even just calling families daily to let them know how their loved ones were doing. During this time, it became especially important to be physically present with our non-verbal and palliative patients. I stayed with them longer, held their hands and shared my stories with them. At times I sat with them in silence, in the hope that they would know that someone was by their side despite their loved ones not being able to be present with them.

I feel honored to have been included in these human moments of love and connection, which further reinvigorated my purpose for choosing nursing as a career. I felt quite fortunate coming into this externship during the final part of my program, as I believe it allowed me to apply my nursing education in a professional setting while truly becoming an advocate for patient and family-centered care.

Michael Garron Hospital allowed me to be an independent member of the team during my externship. I'm truly excited to continue in my journey and continue working with the hospital to provide compassionate care to the local community.