- A nurse in the infectious disease department, Audrey left her unit to integrate a coronavirus screening service at the Rennes University Hospital.
- The young woman rubbed shoulders with patients for several weeks but claims to have "never been afraid".
- At the dawn of deconfinement, she hopes that the epidemic will be contained but ensures that the teams are ready.
They are among those who could not remain confined. By continuing to go out, every day, to go to work, they allowed everyone to heal, to feed themselves, and to save the economy from collapsing. A nurse at the Rennes University Hospital, Audrey, 30, joined a coronavirus screening service when the vast majority of the population of the Breton capital was caulked at home. She talks to 20 Minutes about this two-month period apart.
In the corridors of the Pontchaillou CHU, Audrey meets one of her former colleagues from the infectious diseases department. The smile hidden by her mask, the young nurse laughs. The one with whom she has worked for years has not recognized her. Since February, the caregiver has left her service and her night guards to join the coronavirus screening unit of the CHU Pontchaillou, in Rennes.
The news came by phone on a Thursday in February. When she returned from a long work stoppage after an accident, Audrey was offered a nursing position in a new unit created by the CHU to screen for Covid-19 patients. France then watches China confine itself and sees the virus arriving on its soil discreetly. “It was my manager who called me. I did not hesitate a second even if I wondered where I was going ”. Upon her return to the hospital, Audrey leaves her infectious disease department to integrate her new unit, where no one knows herself. For several days, the teams prepare, clean the premises and try to organize. “We had no patients because Brittany was not yet affected. The CHU had anticipated to be ready. With hindsight, I tell myself that they did well ”.
"That weekend, I will remember it for a long time"
Relatively spared by the March wave, Brittany still sees the epidemic hitting it and the number of people to be screened skyrockets on the weekend of March 15. “I was doing my twelve hours plus a few extra hours. We were few in number, so we did everything: admissions, welcoming patients, cleaning the rooms. That weekend, I will remember it for a long time. ” The team is then reinforced to cope with the influx of patients. “I always felt that we had support. I never felt like I was alone, ”says the one who has just celebrated her 30th birthday.
Our file on the coronavirus
From the start of confinement, Audrey decides to cut herself off from her loved ones and isolates herself in her apartment. "My biggest fear was to infect others," she says. In constant contact with the sick, the young woman says "not to have been afraid" of catching the contagious virus. “I felt useful. I couldn't see myself staying at home. We saw people panicking, others very calm. But everyone was wondering. ” Audrey hears the applause around her every evening. " It is very moving. It is a beautiful tribute that we are paid but I am divided. Because I have the impression that it would have taken a global crisis for us to realize the work of caregivers ”. The young woman also thinks of all the other trades mobilized in response to the epidemic. "The forgotten", as she calls them.
To change her mind, Audrey regularly put on her sneakers for a little jogging around her house. As the deconfinement starts, she admits to looking forward to being able to leave this radius of one kilometer around her home. And waits, like many, to see his family and friends again. Is she worried about the number of cases going up again? “I am sometimes asked for my opinion on the virus. But I'm not a doctor, I don't know more. I can just say that we will face it. Since the beginning of the epidemic, we have always adapted, we saw the protocols change every day. I saw mutual aid, solidarity between the different services. It was like a big family. ” Audrey pauses. "I talk about it in the past when it's not over," she slips, a bit embarrassed. "We must continue to fight against this virus". It will be the last word.
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