A Day in the Life of a Wound Care Nurse in Eastern Indonesia During the COVID-19 Pandemic

On March 2, 2019, the COVID- 19 outbreak became head- lines news in Indonesia. The President announced the first confirmed case in Indonesia. As a wound care nurse, I had to decide whether Griya Afiat Clinic should keep running or be locked down. We did not have any experience working under a pandemic, everything became uncertain and unpre- dictable. The fear, denial, bar- gaining, and finally acceptance process led us to decide to keep the clinic running. If we locked down, where will pa- tients receive treatment? We increased our safety protocol, including use of per- sonal protective equipment (PPE), such as cap, face mask, gown, and boot sandals, and disinfecting the room and fur- niture. We also prohibited fam- ily members from entering the clinic. Regarding home visits, we reduced our schedule, from daily to three times a week. Moreover, we performed initial screening through online as- sessment to screen eligible pa- tients. Patients who have fever, cough, and/or dyspnea were directly referred to the hospi- tal. We also asked patients to send wound pictures. Patients with clinical signs of spread of infection were also referred for hospitalization. An increasing number of COVID-19 patients in Indonesia was reported in news. The num- ber of confirmed cases gradu- ally increased in Makassar city (capital of South Sulawesi) and became the highest in eastern Indonesia, increasing the warn- ing status to red.