The Przybylski family has been attending SDBC since 2013. Matt is a teacher at Richmond Christian School and Andrea is the Director of Professional Practice for Nursing and Allied Health for Richmond with the Vancouver Coastal Health Authority. We reached out to see how Andrea, as a frontline worker, has adapted to COVID-19. Her story is below.
I began attending SDBC in 2013, along with my husband Matthew, our young son Carter and baby daughter Abby. In 2015 we welcomed Brandon to the family who was dedicated at SDBC early in 2016. We quickly got involved in a community group once we decided to regularly attend the church and have made lasting friendships. We currently serve with SDBC Kids by welcoming families in the morning and registering their children in the Sunday School Program at the Bus. Since the COVID pandemic declaration and related social distancing measures, what we miss most about church is the worship and connection with others.
I am the Director of Professional Practice for Nursing and Allied Health for Richmond with Vancouver Coastal Health Authority and have been in this position for five years. I started my career as a Registered Nurse in 2003, first working at St. Paul's Hospital. In 2006, I completed my Master's Degree in Nursing from UBC and moved into nursing education, followed by administration. I am responsible for care models and skill mix, scope optimization, performance management, clinical practice leadership, and the implementation of evidence-based best practices and related education strategies for nursing and allied health professionals for acute, community, and long-term care.
I have never before worked in such a stressful and fast-paced environment. The first few weeks of the crisis are a blur--a flurry of constant activity, back-to-back meetings, long hours, and quick decisions. Uncertainty and anxiety were everywhere and there was a huge need to support and communicate with our staff. We quickly set into motion preparations for the large volumes of critical care patients seen in Italy and New York. Some acute services were reduced (such as surgeries and ambulatory care) which freed up staff who required education and orientation to new areas in order to be ready for the anticipated influx. There were new PPE guidelines to implement and related education needed. Emergency responses were changed, ethical decision-making frameworks developed, capacity planning conducted, daily symptom assessments put in place, testing centres set up, controlled access implemented, and screening, contact-trace mapping, and testing workflows created. Now we are entering the "recovery and restoration" phase of work. We are starting to resume services that were previously reduced, but at a "new normal" with new guidelines, restrictions, and processes. The work seems endless and overwhelming, but it has been encouraging and energizing to see how everyone has come together to meet the needs.
Our son Brandon has a respiratory condition and Type 1 Diabetes and we are most concerned about his health, should he become infected with COVID-19. Our prayer request is that he would remain healthy and protected.
Please join us in praying for the Przybylski family, as well as Andrea and her colleagues as they work on the front lines during this pandemic.
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