After one walks out, another walks in. Then they come out after about half an hour.
As they close the door behind them – although they have masks on – you can see the emotion in their eyes, in their body language. Even in the way they walk after being tested.
One person walks out of Nurse Lee-Ann Johnsons’ office, shoulders trembling – maybe they’re sobbing. Or maybe they’re releasing that soundless, hysterical kind of laughter which comes from relief: negative for Covid-19.
Some shuffle out of the office, eyes downcast, maybe from sadness or maybe to avoid the eyes of the masked faces in the long queue of people still waiting to find out if they’re negative or positive.
“Aren’t you afraid?” This is a question this Eldorado-born nurse must get from many people walking into her office every day. Shuffling in, dread etched on their masked faces, wanting to find out if they’ve got the virus that’s claimed the lives of almost 85 000 people in South Africa alone since last year.
“No, I’m not afraid.” the young nurse answers. Her movements are quick, efficient, assured. She has the kind of confidence that must come from years of experience in doing something.
Except antigen Covid-19 testing is a novelty, a technology introduced just over a year ago in SA. Why isn’t she scared? Each person walking into her office could potentially have the virus that’s behind one of the greatest pandemics in human history.
This is why I'm not afraid
“I have confidence in three things,” she responds. “I’ve been vaccinated and I believe that protects me; my faith in God; and when it’s my time to go it will be my time, whether it’s through contracting Covid-19 or another cause.”
It’s a stoical attitude. But as a mother of four young children, Lee-Ann says she can’t walk out of home every morning dreading that this could be the day she gets infected with the coronavirus. “I’ve already had Covid-19 before,” she adds, conceding that even though people do get re-infected even after being fully vaccinated, she has faith in the vaccine.
She’s gentle, reassuring, professional and explains every step of each test like a nurse who believes in her calling. “I take the Hippocratic Oath that I took when I became a nurse seriously,” she says.
“This is going to go in all the way down your nose – you have to keep still the whole time. Lower your mask and keep your mouth covered, lean back, relax and breathe through your mouth,” she instructs.
In through the nose goes the swab to collect specimen from the nasal wall. She puts it inside the test device. Then the waiting starts.
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It’s one of the longest 30 minutes of anyone’s life – waiting to see if a second line will appear. One line? Good. Two lines? Not so lekker. Lee-Ann sees the anxiety in the patient’s eyes as each second crawls by.
Her warm manner and friendly face are reassuring, however. Whatever happens, this, her small office, is a safe space.
It is a calling
In these Covid times, we think we know exactly how strangers look – until they lift they’re masks. Speaking to Lee-Ann at work, one gets the sense that she’s a beautiful woman with an easy smile. The smile is all in her eyes though, because the masks stay on all the time.
When she sends her pictures, it’s gobsmacking to see her full face.
She’s stunning in the way that scouts for modelling agencies would spot rare beauty in a mall or food market back in the day.
She remembers thinking of herself as a nurturer from about the age of nine, she tells Drum. As a child she always wanted to take care of people. “My favourite game was playing doctor,” she says recalling her childhood in Naturena, Joburg South.
“I had named myself Dr Lobrey and would give head massages to my siblings and see to all their fake ailments – they just wanted to be pampered by me!
“I never questioned whether I’d like to be a doctor or nurse, I just always knew I wanted to be at the bedside of the patients, being hands on,” Lee-Ann recalls.
Also seeing her asthmatic granny, Sally Ann Meintjies, struggle for years with her chest instilled in the young Lee-Ann a desire to help others.
“I assisted her in peeling and grating fruits to eat, making her comfortable in bed with her oxygen, monitoring that she was always taking her treatment as prescribed by her doctor.
“Caring for her inspired me to be that same person for many to come.”
Answering my calling
The young nurse worked in the maternity ward in her early years because she wanted to take care of new moms. “I had my first child at 18,” she says, “and this was such a journey for me – a very scary time being the age that I was. I lay in the maternity ward during labour and I knew that I wanted to be the one that held the hand of a mother and supported her during the journey to motherhood.
“I can say that the day I looked at my daughter as a newborn in my arms, I was so much more inspired to work hard and with my heart, to follow my heart and what I believe God has called me to be. A nurse, a helper, an advocate, a friend, a health promoter, a positive influence, a warm hand.”
So off she went to study at Ann Latsky Nursing college in Rossmore on the path to fulfil her dream.
“I did my diploma as a registered nurse in general, psychiatric and community nursing and midwifery, which is my greatest passion,” says the nurse who’s practised in both private and state hospitals as a midwife for 10 years. “I love being a part of the birthing process and care of a mom and her little one."
The day my child and I got Covid-19
When antigen tests for Covid-19 were introduced in South Africa, this eased patients’ anxiety as before they'd have to go home to await their results – sometimes for weeks – as labs were swamped by the sheer amount of tests.
“Covid tests are done through labs, private and state clinics by registered nurses and doctors,” Lee-Ann explains, adding that lower-category nurses can also conduct them and under supervision.
Antigen tests are an alternative to polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests, the most advanced testing method as it’s more likely to detect an infection than the rapid test. While the PCR tests take from 24 to 48 hours, and even longer when more testing is being done and there's an increase in infections, antigen test results are available within half an hour.
It may be a shorter wait, but it’s as tense and scary for the patient. Lee-Ann has had her own Covid-19 scares too, though.
“When covid came to light and was still mysterious, I feared contracting it and taking it home and infecting my family,” she admits.
Then in May this year she got sick, experiencing coronavirus symptoms, and she tested positive for Covid-19. As a mother, she was distraught.
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“My 14-year-old also tested positive and was ill . . . my husband and other three kids tested negative, however, having mild flu like symptoms. This put a lot of strain on the house. We all quarantined and medicated together for 10 days and, thankfully, we recovered without hospitalisation.”
It was a lot to deal with. “I was worried about my family at the same time that I too was ill and still had to take care of my family,” the 36-year-old says, reflecting on that time.
“A blessing is having a supportive , hands-on-husband who helps in the home and kept a careful eye on me and the kids.”
Her parents also got sick, one after the other, in July this year when the third wave hit Gauteng and, with the province being the epicentre at the time, Lee-Ann was afraid for them.
“We feared that it could be Covid but after having the test and numerous others they tested negative and, with good vitamins and taking extra care he got better in no time.” Her elderly mom, she says, “had suffered with a very bad influenza but recovered after a good week of meds and rest”.
Don’t panic
Lee-Ann’s kids, Beuran (16), Levi (14), Marvin (8) and three-and-a-half-old Seth, would carry the burden of fear with her if she stepped out of her house filled with apprehension and gloom everyday.
But the nurse is an optimist and strong in her faith in God. This positivity reflects in how she deals with the patients. “My first response is not to panic,” she says when asked the question how she feels when a patient tests positive in her office.
“You are going to be okay,” she tells herself mentally before advising the patient on the next steps. “When a client’s health is compromised and I have assisted to the best of my ability, I refer them to a doctor, institution or specialist so that they may receive the specialised care they need. Referral is so important to minimise the risk of a patient’s health deteriorating.
“I believe that 60% of my job is to teach, encourage and to allay the anxieties of my patients. When they understand more about their health, and are encouraged to do what they can to promote it, they have less anxiety about it and cope better. I also advise on good, safe practices during their illness, the importance of the 10-14 day isolation period and the steps to boosting their immune system.”
Dear fellow South Africans . . .
Healthcare workers are among those who have been almost literally taking their lives into their hands every time they left home since the pandemic started. Lee-Ann wishes more people would get the vaccines.
“The aim is to end the pandemic sooner. When more of us are vaccinated, the more we protect ourselves and our loved ones against Covid-19 and other variants.” The only fear that she has when she goes to work in the morning is “not doing enough”.
“I ask for daily guidance from God to help me make the best decisions for the good of my patients. I also consult with other nurses and doctors as my aim is always the very best for my patients.”
One day, when this is all behind us
“I will sit back, breathe in deeply, take it in and reflect on the journey,” Lee-Ann says when asked about the first thing she’ll do on the day the president announces that the Covid-19 pandemic is officially over in South Africa.
“I will probably smile – in relief that the journey has come to an end. I will never take a hug or a warm handshake for granted ever again. I will likely remain as cautious as I can,” she adds.
Caution must be wired almost into her very soul by now with a job like that.
