Event Title
Autoethnographic Account
Start Date
21-6-2021 11:40 AM
End Date
21-6-2021 12:20 PM
Topic
Panel Discussion The Impact of COVID-19 Through the Eyes of SUNY Students
Session Chair
DeeDee Bennett Gayle
Abstract
This presentation will provide an autoethnographic account of an essential healthcare worker in New York City during the high peak of the COVID-19 pandemic (March-May 2020). The many hurdles (e.g., lack of personal protective equipment) created overwhelming demands, that included detrimental mental health issues and relational trauma. This was especially salient for healthcare workers that identified as a person of color. The data is clear that these obstacles disproportionately affected some communities of color, in particular Hispanic/Latino and Black/African-American people which had higher cases, hospitalizations, and deaths when compared to White and Asian/Pacific Islander people. One contributing factor to these higher rates is that people of color were working in frontline positions deemed essential workers by New York State thus people and communities of color had more exposure to COVID-19. The primary author will discuss her work in a public hospital as a health care professional in the field of Rehabilitation Medicine. She will highlight changes to processes and protocols that challenged health care workers. In particular, she will discuss how the lack of PPE and the deviation from prior protocols created significant mental, emotional, and physical challenges for herself and colleagues. She will discuss how healthcare workers put their lives at risk in order to care for those that were ill. The sad result is that many healthcare workers lost their lives while on the call of duty. The goal in highlighting these issues is to bring positive and impactful changes to policies that will include a well-organized emergency response plan for all communities and future sentinel events.
Document Type
Extended Abstract
Autoethnographic Account
This presentation will provide an autoethnographic account of an essential healthcare worker in New York City during the high peak of the COVID-19 pandemic (March-May 2020). The many hurdles (e.g., lack of personal protective equipment) created overwhelming demands, that included detrimental mental health issues and relational trauma. This was especially salient for healthcare workers that identified as a person of color. The data is clear that these obstacles disproportionately affected some communities of color, in particular Hispanic/Latino and Black/African-American people which had higher cases, hospitalizations, and deaths when compared to White and Asian/Pacific Islander people. One contributing factor to these higher rates is that people of color were working in frontline positions deemed essential workers by New York State thus people and communities of color had more exposure to COVID-19. The primary author will discuss her work in a public hospital as a health care professional in the field of Rehabilitation Medicine. She will highlight changes to processes and protocols that challenged health care workers. In particular, she will discuss how the lack of PPE and the deviation from prior protocols created significant mental, emotional, and physical challenges for herself and colleagues. She will discuss how healthcare workers put their lives at risk in order to care for those that were ill. The sad result is that many healthcare workers lost their lives while on the call of duty. The goal in highlighting these issues is to bring positive and impactful changes to policies that will include a well-organized emergency response plan for all communities and future sentinel events.
Comments
The recording for this panel discussion ends at 3:34:35