Our Frontline Worker of the Week is… Nurse Gangapattie Dani

Apr 11, 2021 News

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“Although it is not a cure for COVID-19, the vaccine can prevent you from encountering severe symptoms and this will safeguard your family as well.”

By Sharmain Grainger

Kaieteur News – Among the many frontline healthcare workers who were inflicted with COVID-19 but have survived and are currently back in the heat of the virus-slaying battle, is one of our very own emergency nurses, Gangapattie Dani.
When COVID-19 entered our shores back in March 2020, there was little information to work with, but today Nurse Dani operates from a place of knowledge, especially since she has seen the infectious virus up-close and lived to fight another day. Having dealt with the virus at such an intimate level, Nurse Dani confessed that the fear that once gripped her, no longer does but rather she is energised, now more than ever, to defeat the foe.
Safeguarding oneself, Nurse Dani knows, is currently the best combative tactic and this, according to her, includes, “washing and sanitising, wearing protective gears, taking my vitamins and lots of liquid, social distancing, proper ventilation and showering before leaving the work environment.”
Being a healthcare worker comes with its own risks and these are amplified understandably when placed on the frontline, especially in the fast-pace Emergency Room (ER). As an ER Nurse at the country’s premier health institution, the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation, our featured frontline healthcare worker is tasked with caring for the sick, injured and disabled. She shared recently, “I have to always be on my toes thinking and keeping a watch out for the worse cases that come through the Accident and Emergency doors.”
In fact, Nurse Dani has acted as the team leader in critical cases and is currently not merely a nurse but a mentor, instructor (Emergency Residency Programme), friend and, among other outstanding things. She was recently appointed Ward Manager (Ag).

Of note, she was twice the recipient of awards for her clinical leadership in the ER.But how does one choose a career and evolve so effortlessly that it becomes clear that they were born for such a lot in life? For Nurse Dani, it was a ‘no brainer.’ She explained, “I knew I wanted to be a nurse after my first exposure to work study, working at the Suddie Hospital.”
Born February 19, 1985 to Suresh Bridjalall, a carpenter, and his wife, Nina, a homemaker, as the eldest of three children, Nurse Dani grew up at Affiance, a village on the Essequibo Coast, Region Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam).
She attended the Taymouth Manor Primary School and then the Cottonfield Secondary School. Although she had a liking for drama classes since she got to satisfy her passion for dancing, Nurse Dani knew, even then, that she was destined for something much greater.
Convinced that nursing was her forté, she, soon after completing her secondary education, was on her way to the Georgetown School of Nursing and then the University of Guyana to expand her academic horizon.
Nurse Dani currently resides at Recht-Door-Zee, West Bank Demerara, Region Three (Essequibo Islands-West Demerara) with a family of her own.Her husband, Munesh Dani, and their children – daughter, Maryian and son, Michael – are very supportive of her career since they understand all too well her mission, as an ER Nurse, is to help save lives.

This task has become even more crucial with the advent of COVID-19. In this regard, Nurse Dani said, “My role is to provide effective and efficient nursing care to all patients…also, working along with my team, and doctors, managing critical cases, providing staff and patient education and ensuring safe donning and doffing of PPEs in the department.”
With 16 years of nursing under her belt, Nurse Dani believes that she has remained grounded and committed to the cause because of “my nursing skills, years of experience and caring heart for others.”
In fact, she revealed that being a nurse during such a contagious pandemic has taught her many lessons that have helped her to evolve further professionally. “One of the greatest lessons is safety precautions,” said Nurse Dani, as she stressed too the importance of “coping mechanisms” which are needed as well in the fight against COVID-19.
Nurse Dani was quarantined – after being exposed to patient zero in March of last year, and in October of last year, she too tested positive for COVID-19 and had to be isolated. The worse part of her isolation, she recalled, was being away from her children.
She understands all too well how it feels when one is handed a positive COVID-19 test and thereafter must be confined, until cleared to resume normal life.
Based on the country’s COVID-19 data, of the almost 11,000 persons who have tested positive, just over 250 have died. This is an especially worrying situation since health care workers, like Nurse Dani, are convinced that if there is adherence to the COVID-19 guidelines, more lives could be saved.
Although a COVID-19 immunisation campaign has been rolled out with health workers being the first targeted group, Nurse Dani has not yet received a single jab. This, she said, is owing to the fact that persons who would have tested positive only become eligible for vaccination after six months have elapsed. As she patiently awaits her turn, the nurse is urging members of the public to avail themselves for vaccination, once they are eligible, since “although it is not a cure for COVID-19, the vaccine can prevent you from encountering severe symptoms and this will safeguard your family as well.”
But life has not been all work and no play for this dynamic ER nurse; in fact, she has a knack for gardening and pottery, and admitted, amid laughter, that she also finds time for “a good TV series.” Spending quality time with family and friends is also important to her, and despite the pandemic, she is still able to factor this into her busy schedule “to some extent.”

 

 

 

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