Caring for Mental Patients with Sincerity

MACHRADIN WAHYUDI RITONGA

Siti Patimah

Caring for mental patients infected with Covid-19 is not a simple matter. However, for Siti Patimah, 37, this job represents a kind of devotion to her duty as a nurse. She does not want to let her patients suffer without proper treatment.

This month, Patimah feels relieved. No mental patients in the West Java Provincial Mental Hospital (RSJ) in Cisarua, West Bandung regency, are affected by Covid-19. The Covid-19 treatment ward she observed on the monitor on Monday at noon (25/7/2022) was vacant. Nonetheless, she is not quite at ease yet. The pandemic remains. Anyone can still be infected.

In Kasuari Ward west of the RSJ complex specially designated for patients with Covid-19, she stays alert. “The last patient entered here around 10 days ago. Sadly, the patient died. When admitted here, his condition was worsening.”

Patimah’s involvement with Covid-19 began on 26 March 2020. Along with other peers, she was suddenly summoned by her superior. They gathered in the RSJ auditorium. “All of those present were wary. It might have to do with Covid-19. It turned out to be true, we were assigned to become attendants in the special Covid-19 treatment ward of the RSJ,” recalled Patimah.

Also read:

> Fight the Pandemic

> Two Years of Pandemic

This appointment promptly provoked worries because the pandemic was still haunting them like a terrible ghost. Furthermore, at the time four patients had already contracted Covid-19. The knowledge as well as facilities needed for protection against Covid-19 were also still at a minimum.

The vision of her two small children being infected was right before her eyes. Yet the call of duty as a nurse gradually dispelled her apprehension.

Patimah could not hide her anxiety either. The vision of her two small children being infected was right before her eyes. Yet the call of duty as a nurse gradually dispelled her apprehension.

“Even caring for normal Covid-19 patients already racks our brains, let alone patients with mental disorders. They don’t know what Covid-19 is so we have to give them extra attention,” she said.

Patimah then asked for the permission of her husband, Happiz, 40, who worked in a mining area in Muara Enim, South Sumatra. Separated by a distance of over 800 kilometers, Happiz hesitated. “I persuaded him and promised I would take care of my health while working. Finally, I was allowed despite his lingering worry,” said Patimah.

Patimah abandoned her intention to inform her parents of her assignment, though. She did not want them to be anxious, or even to be shunned by other residents. At the time, the stigma of Covid-19 attached to healthcare personnel still prevailed. “I wouldn’t let them be rejected by the neighborhood only because their child became a Covid-19 nurse. I notified them only several months later,” she said.

She started her new adventure in the same month. Patimah strove to perform her job with full responsibility. She realized that a nurse should be dedicated to ensuring the health of patients. She utilized the opportunity to learn a lot of new things. Such an awareness had been inculcated in her since she studied at the Indonesian Air Force Nursing Academy in Ciumbuleuit (now the Indonesian Air Force Health Polytechnic).

Values of life

Patimah’s father, Karna, 74, is an important figure in her life. He taught the values of life such as responsibility and persistence. “I used to prefer dancing, but my father wanted me to choose the health department. I followed his desire as I didn’t want to be sinful,” she laughingly said.

MACHRADIN WAHYUDI RITONGA

Siti Patimah

The difficulty she envisioned became a reality. Patients with mental disorders frequently act in ways that endanger themselves and the nurses in charge. Being dragged, spit on and even ignored by patients are common experiences in the course of their job execution. Patimah and the other attendants try to be accommodating in facing the situation.

“They are more sensitive. They know when we are in a bad or good mood. We can be defied while in an emotionally unstable condition. Therefore, working with sincerity is the most important part,” she explained.

So, the doses of some medicines have to adjusted based on their combination.

Patimah has to manage accurately dispensing drugs. Sometimes taking certain Covid-19 drugs can have an impact on the effects of those taken earlier. So, the doses of some medicines have to adjusted based on their combination.

“Dealing only with mental patients is quite exhausting, let alone managing them during the pandemic era. We have to take care of them with self-

protection gear that will occasionally be dragged. That is why we cannot be left alone with patients,” she said,

Patients’ rejection of drugs has been common. Patimah has to make sure that the drugs given are swallowed for the sake of their health. Not infrequently, patients show resistance or even hide the drugs under their tongues to avoid swallowing.

“We have to wait and ascertain that they swallow the drugs. It’s because the medicines must be taken routinely for their health,” she added.

KOMPAS/MACHRADIN WAHYUDI RITONGA

Siti Patimah

Her perseverance and patience have earned her an award. Patimah was named Champion of Hospital Health Personnel for the Category of West Java Provincial Nurses in 2021.

“At the time I was asked by my boss to join in an essay-writing activity concerning Covid-19 management in the RSJ. Coincidentally, the theme was related to Covid-19; I had been involved from the beginning, and I became head of the ward,” she said.

Head of the West Java Provincial RSJ’s Nursing Division, Komaryati, said Patimah was the right person to treat Covid-19 patients. Patimah is a figure who is willing to learn and assume responsibility.

“So, when there was an announcement about award qualifications, I promptly asked Patimah to write an essay. I was sure she deserved the award,” said Komaryati.

While grateful for the honor, Patimah remains constantly alert to any possibility. Although no patients are currently infected with Covid-19, the fear remains as the pandemic is not yet over.

MACHRADIN WAHYUDI RITONGA

Siti Patimah supervises CCTV in the hospital treatment room, West Bandung Regency, West Java, Monday (25/7/2022).

“This experience will be an interesting story for me. When in the future my grandchildren ask me about the world during the Covid-19 pandemic, I will have a good story to make them feel proud,” she concluded.

Siti Patimah

Born: Bandung, 16 October 1984

Education: Associate degree in Nursing, Indonesian Air Force Nursing Academy, Ciumbuleuit (2006 graduate)

(This article was translated by Aris Prawira)