Though Debra Whiteheart, MHS, PA-C, can feel tired and overwhelmed at times and admits to sometimes losing her patience with family, she understand the importance of being a calm and consistent presence for her patients right now.
“I think they need that consistency, when everything else feels like it’s out of control,” Whiteheart says. “And I think they appreciate it. … It brings some familiarity to everything that’s not [familiar] right now.”
Whiteheart, assistant medical director at Duke Family Medicine Center, says between Zoom meetings, patient care (in person and telehealth), MyChart emails, voicemails, and work emails, she is struggling to stay on top of everything. In a single day recently, she had 14 MyChart messages and 10 medication refill requests to respond to, in addition to regular patient care and administrative duties. She says her days are bleeding into her nights, and it’s becoming more difficult to find time to exercise and de-stress.
But, Whiteheart knows how important it is to connect with her patients in a timely manner, learn more about where they are in their lives now, and hear what concerns they may have.
“We need to still kind of connect with our patients and figure out what barriers exist and allay fears,” she says. “Also keeping in mind that there’s a good possibility that a lot of them have lost insurance if they’ve lost jobs during this time.”
Whiteheart finds that her relationships outside the clinical setting have gone to the other extreme. Three weeks ago, her mother was anxious and nervous about staying with her while Whiteheart’s father underwent a medical procedure at Duke University Hospital. And she notes while neighbors are supportive and ask how she’s doing, they do keep their distance. Whiteheart compared wearing scrubs to wearing a scarlet letter.
“Our next door neighbors actually made my husband and me both surgical masks that we could wear. It was very sweet,” Whiteheart recalls. “But on the same note, she also came and dropped it on the front porch and ran.”
Special thanks to Jacob Christy who transcribed the interview.