How Did GDAs in Hospitals Help in Covid Times?

The situation was quite out of control during the pandemic. All the staff at hospitals including doctors, workers, technicians, and GDAs supported in these hard times. They have worked in collaboration to fight back against corona and save thousands of lives. And now as we have come out of the difficult times, we should thank not just the doctors but even the GDAs who have been working with dedication to save lives and keep themselves in danger. Before moving to what GDAs have been doing during Covid phase, let’s know about who GDA in hospital is and what they should do to take care of the Covid patient.

Who are GDAs?

Healthcare workers known as general duty assistants make sure that patients in clinics, hospitals, and nursing homes receive prompt help and quick medical care. A GDA’s duties include seeing to it that individuals under their care receive medication on time, helping with everyday activities and jobs that some patients won’t be able to complete on their own, and helping to keep the environment conducive to a patient’s recovery.

General Duty Assistants: Roles and Responsibilities 

One of the main roles in making sure that patients’ daily needs are swiftly handled is a general duty assistant. Their primary duties and roles are as follows:

• Assist with providing basic patient care, such as delivering their daily medications.
• Caring for sick, the elderly, or the disabled and dressing and feeding them
• Assisting patients with physical activity and other physio needs advised by therapists
• Changing patients’ rooms or helping them get in and out of bed
• Sanitation and hygiene of the patient

Any additional care that is required, including cleanliness and maintaining a secure environment for patients, should be given.

What Should a GDA Do to Take Care of a Covid Patient?

General Duty Assistants (GDAs) manage the daily essential nursing care of COVID-19 patients in a healthcare facility where they are receiving treatment. Even though they wear protective gear, dealing with COVID-19 patients on a regular basis is dangerous. In addition to wearing protective equipment, GDAs must sanitize themselves before leaving the quarantine area to avoid spreading the coronavirus to other patients. Daily interaction with a COVID-19 patient is a very perilous task, so the General Duty Assistant must exercise extreme caution.

The Work Done by GDAs During Covid 19

GDA has been working day-night to save the lives of Covid patients and deal with them. The first interaction has been with GDA prior to the doctor. And a GDA was more susceptible to the infection then other staff. 

1. Testing the patient

Covid 19 test has been done by the GDAs and then the report has been sent to the doctor. Wearing the COVID PPE kit and other tools used for testing, GDAs have assisted doctors as well as done the test themselves too and submitted the reports to the concerned doctor.

2. Admitting the patients

Since there were limited beds in the hospitals, GDAs organized and managed it so well even after the inadequacy of the beds. GDAs had also made sure that a patient must not be without a bed be it the hospital or some other location which was transformed into a hospital like place. 

3. Transmission of patients

Not just the admission, GDAs have been keenly involved and taken care of the transmission of patients from one place to another based on the criticality of the patient. Keeping a regular check on them had become mandatory. So, a GDA has also dealt with that. After the transfer of the patient, GDA has ensured that all the necessary equipment is available in the ward and properly sanitized. 

4. Regular check up of the patients

Since, this was not a normal time, like any other disease, GDAs in hospitals have made sure to do a daily check up and report the status to the doctor of the same records. This has been done by them on a very genuine basis keeping their life at stake. Although GDAs wore PPE kit and other protective gear, the chance of infection spreading was quite high. Also, they have maintained proper hygiene of the  milieu to stop the infection from spreading.

5. Care like a family

GDAs not only have done their professional duties but also taken care of the patient like a family member. All the patients were away from their loved ones. GDAs were the only ones interacting with them on a daily basis. So, they have even taken care of the meals. 

6. Implementing the oxygen cylinder

GDAs have been proactively involved in the implementation of the oxygen cylinder and doing the needful of the patient. There was too much demand for oxygen during this time. Doctors could not have been available to every patient’s bed so GDAs have been dedicatedly checking the oxygen cylinder and reported to the staff to make available the other one if the existing one was finished with the oxygen concentration. Not just that, fitting the oxygen cylinder and calculating the saturation level were also the work of GDAs. 

 7. Discharge of the patient

When a patient was cured under the supervision of the doctors and made his journey home , GDAs have done all the formalities of cleaning their bed, making them feel normal again and removing all the equipment. Moreover, GDA had also taken them to the vehicle through which they were going home. 

Precautions that GDAs Have Taken Care of:

• Wore masks, PPE kit and protective gears all the time.

• Sanitized the premises before the entrance of the patient.

• Maintained hygiene of the environment even after infection spreads out.

• Keep the premises clean.

• Promoted social distancing.

• Sanitized their kit before wearing it.

GDAs as Heroes

We have all heard of doctors being our heroes during Covid. But we cannot ignore the presence of GDAs in the hospitals like a hero, and this has been the reason why we have successfully fought through it. Many of the doctors, GDAs, and other staff at the hospital have sacrificed their lives to give a secure environment to our society. Due to this we can proudly say that GDAS have been our real heroes who have not just worked on the recommendations of the doctors but also saved us like a guardian. You can hire GDAs from top manpower outsourcing companies.

Also read: Top Features of Insight EMR Software