Art Basel Miami Beach 2021: Booth H08
Past exhibition
Aliza Nisenbaum b. 1977
Colin, Nursing Lecturer, 2020
Watercolor on paper
22 x 30 inches
(55.9 x 76.2 cm)
(55.9 x 76.2 cm)
Further images
I was teaching part-time in a university when the pandemic started. There was a drive from the NHS with the slogan ‘Stand up, step forward, save lives’ to encourage medical...
I was teaching part-time in a university when the pandemic started. There was a drive from the NHS with the slogan ‘Stand up, step forward, save lives’ to encourage medical staff, initially retired people, to return to work. When this campaign came out, I thought I need to go and do something, I need to be a part of it.
My background is as an ICU nurse, but I have ended up working in all the general wards in the hospital. For someone who is used to working one-on-one, to suddenly be thrown into a situation where you are treating 30 Covid patients while wearing full PPE, was very different. I had to start re-learning everything and find things out as we went along. Many NHS staff were redeployed into the acute areas from other departments and were in a similar situation. To start with it was all a bit ‘the blind leading the blind’. I’m lucky, because my academic background is in health psychology, so I’ve got an awareness of how to take care of myself during a time like this. While I haven’t felt the need for any formal intervention or psychological support, it has been helpful to have great people around me who are very supportive.
My background is as an ICU nurse, but I have ended up working in all the general wards in the hospital. For someone who is used to working one-on-one, to suddenly be thrown into a situation where you are treating 30 Covid patients while wearing full PPE, was very different. I had to start re-learning everything and find things out as we went along. Many NHS staff were redeployed into the acute areas from other departments and were in a similar situation. To start with it was all a bit ‘the blind leading the blind’. I’m lucky, because my academic background is in health psychology, so I’ve got an awareness of how to take care of myself during a time like this. While I haven’t felt the need for any formal intervention or psychological support, it has been helpful to have great people around me who are very supportive.