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Read one of the vignettes from the Postscript: A Care Crisis in the Time of Covid-19

Care research does not take place in a vacuum, especially in the context of a global pandemic that has magnified the care crisis dynamics discussed in this book. Perhaps the Covid-19 crisis will actually give impetus to more enduring, transformative restructuring of care and justice. And yet there is only limited room to reflect on these developments in the format of academic book chapters written mainly in the pre-coronavirus period. How then can we make sure to position this book in its time, so that you, the reader engaging with our discussions, get a sense of the unsettling, disruptive context in which it has been finalised?
Published by:
  • Nordic Network: A care crisis in the women-friendly welfare states? (Research Project)
    • Hospital

     

    This postscript brings together a range of vignettes by some of the book’s contributors on dimensions of coronavirus-related developments in their respective context. Taking the care crisis concept as reference point, each vignette describes a concrete moment, development or process that offers reflections on the discussions in the book within the coronavirus context. 

    In this first online pre-print, Carsten Juul Jensen’s poetic rendering of an interview with a nurse volunteering for the Covid-19 unit conveys a feeling of how mundane and at the same time existential hospital care is, on so many levels. The remaining vignettes will be posted on the project website during 2021.

     

    Published in

    Lise Lotte Hansen, Hanne Marlene Dahl, Laura Horn (eds) (2021) A Care Crisis in the Nordic Welfare States? Care work, gender equality and social sustainability (Bristol University Press)

    Contact: Lise Lotte Hansen (liselh@ruc.dk)

     

    Nurse Karen Works in the Covid-19 Unit in a Hospital

    Carsten Juul Jensen (Professionsh?jskolen Absalon)

    A poetic representation inspired by critical feminist methods to provide an interview with Nurse Karen who voluntarily accepted work at a unit for Covid-19 patients. The interview was conducted in spring 2020 in a former Department of Medical Gastroenterology.

     

    Welcome

    we showed up for our first shift

    at a department that was totally deserted

    like a bomb everyone had run from

    no:

    chairs, tables, beds, duvets, coffee cups or people

    the introduction poster for the bedpan washer had been removed

    many of the nursing staff stand shoulder to shoulder by the computer

     

    A menopausal lady

    hot flashes

    hands sanitised for 30 seconds

     

    blue lab coat tied around the waist and neck

    blue mask tied well on the back and squeezed tightly around the nose

     

    face shield on

    gloves preferably long on

    ready to care for patients

    Mrs Jensen needs help with:

    bed bath

    getting dressed

    wound care

    eating

    45 minutes blue lab coat untied

    hands sanitised for 30 seconds

    gloves off

    hands sanitised for 30 seconds

    blue lab coat stripped off

    hands sanitised for 30 seconds

    mask off

    hands sanitised for 30 seconds

    face shield off

    hands sanitised for 30 seconds

     

    make sure to only touch the clean parts, the parts that have not been in contact with patients

     

    the menopausal lady is soaked as if she has run a half marathon

    the lady needs to go to the changing room in the basement to change her uniform

     

    did I sanitise my hands when I moved the gloves from the wrong bin?

     

    Patients

    Woman of 45 years is discharged

    falls in her home

    can’t breathe

    readmitted

     

    No one will die alone on my shifts

    sitting in a lab coat, mask, face shield and gloves

    holding hands

    can the dying lady feel empathy behind my mask

    in the visible part of my body – my eyes

     

    The lady with dementia

    who is already confused about where she is

    thinks she has landed on an untouched planet

    among people in blue with masks and face shields

    who are you?

     

    Remember that the doorknob is unclean – friend: sanitise your hands

     

    COVID-19

    The hygiene nurse knows all the hygiene rules

    not afraid of infection

    heavy breath

     

    Covid-19 negative

     

    training for the run across the Storeb?lt bridge for a half marathon

    must give up after 12 km

    can’t anymore

     

    Covid-19 positive

     

    Sick

    fever with breathing difficulties in a big house isolated from family

     

    Healthy

    back in the Ambulatory Endoscopy Clinic

    Covid-19 unit closed

    tired

    heavy breath

     

    Hope to be ready for running a 4k in the future