What it s like being a nurse during a pandemic It is always hectic in the trauma ward, but what happened during the peak of the pandemic will always stick with me . We kept getting patients who were already dead, says Thandekile Ndika, a nurse at Gugulethu Community Health Centre s trauma ward.
Ndika was one of five nurses we spoke to at a public and private facility in Cape Town, about their work and lives during the Covid-19 pandemic. The other nurses are Tandiswa Kami also from the Gugulethu Community Health Centre, and Maxine MacNamara, Clare Wepener, and Nicky Krynauw, who work at Life Healthcare’s Vincent Pallotti Hospital in Pinelands.