As the weeks passed, information was being reported that various things killed the virus, including ultraviolet light. Corporation X, bought and installed ultraviolet lights at the main entrance. Anything that was heard of was tried. Everyone was trying to do their part. PPE was finally become more accessible. It was stored in an area that was not secure and accessible to anyone that needed or wanted it. N95 masks was the only supply that remained somewhat elusive, and kept under lock and key.

One of the charge nurses stopped at a gas station on her way to work, one morning. She was wearing her scrubs and name tag. She needed to get some gas. As she began filling up her tank, a lady who was at another pump, questioned the nurse as to why she was there. The lady proceeded to the tell the nurse that she should be ashamed of herself, and that she wasn’t allowed to buy gas or use a gas pump because she was going to get everyone sick. The nurse told the lady to mind her own business. The lady then approached the nurse and started spraying Lysol on her as she was calling 911 to report the nurse being in public. The police showed up, arrested the lady, and the nurse went to work. The city in which this occurred was also in the same city that the nursing home beehive was located in. The city residents and businesses then decorated the city with signs telling all first responders and healthcare workers that they were supported and welcome.

A new policy was issued by the local health department to EMS and hospitals, and nursing homes. The policy was if anyone in the community suffered a life event that required CPR, that EMS was to perform CPR for 15 minutes on scene, and then call the time of death. If a nursing home resident needed CPR, when EMS arrived, they were to ask the nursing home staff how long had they been performing CPR, then provide CPR from the moment CPR was started by the nursing home staff until it equaled 15 minutes. EMS was banned from bringing these individuals to the hospital unless they were successfully resuscitated within the 15 minutes for anyone in the community or at nursing homes. Luckily, we had not needed to do CPR while that policy was in place.

The residents remained in isolation without visitors. Phone calls, virtual visits, and window visits were the only reprieves from seclusion. 2 weeks had long been passed, and the promise that life would return to normal was broken months ago. Complaints of depression and increased pain skyrocketed. Hospice services were not allowed in. No vision, hearing, dental, or podiatry services were allowed. We allowed mental health services in, but we were one of the few beehives that did. Basically, the beehive staff was all the residents had. The staff did the best they could to fill the void, but we were not enough. Many residents lost weight because the loneliness filled their stomachs. The weight loss was only one symptom we battled from the broken hearts.

Another type of abuse and violation of resident’s rights that was infringed on is called involuntary seclusion. That included denying them visitors, or keeping them in their rooms, or denying them access to other humans. Every nursing home committed this abuse because the government would punish us if we didn’t force involuntary seclusion as ordered by them. The government would destroy us for an infection control breach. The whole thing was so hypocritical. The only time a nursing home is allowed to infringe on resident rights before COVID, was if the resident was doing something that could cause harm to self or others. But in COVID, there was not a right answer, involuntary seclusion was killing them, and so was COVID infections.