At first, Kayla Homulos was scared.
It was March, the novel coronavirus hit with a wallop and the licensed practical nurse was assigned to the newly-created, acute care COVID unit on 6 West at Kelowna General Hospital.
"It was unsettling. We didn't know what to expect," said Homulos, who is also in her final year of training to be a registered nurse.
"But, we followed the guidelines and when helping patients we're always wearing a surgical mask, gown, gloves and eye protection. And if we know the patient has COVID, we wear a respirator mask."
The 30-bed ward (previously the stroke unit) at the west end of the sixth floor of the hospital is where anyone admitted with COVID-like symptoms is sent for the swab test.
If the test is negative, the patient is transferred to another unit for treatment.
If positive, they stay on the ward in their own room and treated until they are better.
"The maximum we've had on the ward at any one time with COVID is seven," said Homulos.
"But we've been doing a lot of testing and the second wave is here now. Because of the high turnover of testing, there's increased burnout in nurses."
However, Homulos feels "very protected" by the ward's personal protection equipment protocol and supported by everyone at the hospital.
She gives special shout outs to her manager Judi Piper-Wallace and patient care coordinator Stormee Hickey.
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