Working Life: We see a lot of nursing staff at our post-acute Covid clinic

Fri, 23 Sep, 2022 - 02:00

Catherine Shanahan

Orla Wynne, chief respiratory physiologist, Tallaght University Hospital

6am

I’m typically up at the dawn to organise lunches/sort uniforms for my children Eva, 10, and Tom, 9, before hitting the road for the commute from Kill, Co Kildare, to Tallaght University Hospital.

7am

When I arrive, I start calibration of equipment used to measure pulmonary (lung) function. It has to be done daily and quality assured to ensure accuracy of testing procedures because test results guide diagnosis and treatment. It takes about half an hour.

8am

The Interstitial Lung Disease clinic gets underway where patients with different lung conditions caused by scarring/fibrosis of lung tissue are seen. It’s overseen by Professor Seamas Donnelly. We test patients’ lung function and the clinic continues until lunch time.

2pm

In the afternoon we see patients with long term side-effects of Covid at the Post-Acute Covid Clinic. We have eight slots per week and they are always full. A lot of patients were very fit before Covid but are now suffering from breathlessness and fatigue.

We’ve seen lots of nursing staff at the clinic with lingering memory loss/cognitive issues, which is worrying. We have a multidisciplinary team (MDT) to assess patients including a physiotherapist, a psychologist and an occupational therapist.

Orla Wynne, chief respiratory physiologist, Tallaght University Hospital. Picture: Moya Nolan

3pm

An MDT meeting under consultant respiratory physician Prof Eddie Moloney gets underway to discuss our virtual home sleep service. These are patients with sleep apnea who use CPAP machines to deliver a continuous supply of oxygen when they are sleeping. We connect with patients via a phone link to see how they are doing.

4pm

I nip over to our pulmonary function lab, part of the HSE’s new integrated care hub, which I oversee.

GPs can refer patients with various lung conditions to the lab and they can be treated in the community rather than in hospital, which has helped reduce waiting lists.

I touch base before hometime with the Irish Thoracic Society. I am the rep for the Irish Institute of Clinical Measurement Physiology, and we are co-hosting an event in Buswell’s Hotel in Dublin on September 25 as part of World Lung Day.

5pm

I head home to do dinner, help with homework, drive the kids to GAA or soccer before doing a bit of personal training.