'Hardcore' Head Nurse at Huoshenshan Hospital

Chen Jing is known as a "hardcore" head nurse for her bravery and meticulousness by her colleagues at Huoshenshan Hospital, a makeshift hospital built to treat the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) patients in Wuhan, Central China's Hubei Province.

The 47-year-old military medic with 31 years of nursing experience that aided the fight against the Ebola virus in Liberia in West Africa in 2014 and she joined the "Harmonious Mission 2018" on the Chinese naval hospital ship Peace Ark for more than eight months.

Before they went to the Huoshenshan Hospital on February 2, Chen and her team members worked in Hankou Hospital in Wuhan for eight days.

The hospital, a rehabilitation center, was not qualified for treatment of infectious diseases and was short of facilities for COVID-19 prevention and control at the beginning. Chen led her team to transform the ordinary wards in a short time.

 During her week-long stay at Hankou Hospital, she and her team members were in heavy protective gear and worked in the intensive care unit every day. They were busy with treating COVID-19 patients, giving injections and infusions, collecting samples, monitoring vital signs, attending to patients, and cleaning the wards. The airtight protective equipments soaked them in sweat.

A higher risk of being infected by the virus in the ICU where Chen worked round the clock did not hold her back.

One day, when Chen helped a patient clean his throat, his sputum was spilled onto her protective mask. Instead of avoiding it instinctively, she patiently cleaned up the mess.

Once, a patient suddenly vomited while being fed by Chen, the experienced nurse immediately took out the basin under the bed, offered the patient warm water and tidied things up.

Chen was designated as the head nurse of the first division of the department of critical care medicine, which is composed of medical workers from various military units with a variety of professions, treatment philosophies, and levels of protection awareness.

Chen, the "stewardess" of the division, pays great attention to all the details of the personal protection of each doctor and nurse, even outside the working areas.

Before entering the wards, she repeatedly reminded the doctors and nurses of tips for disinfection and protective requirements with great patience, which impressed all her colleagues.

Chen emphasizes that dozens of requirements for the medical workers' personal protection, including protective clothing, isolation gowns, face shields and goggles, must be strictly followed.

She also remembers her goal before departure that all the team members should return safely and in good health after winning the victory of the anti-virus fight.

(Source: China Women's News/Translated and edited by Women of China)