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Covid-19: NHS nurse's artwork shows 'how hectic it can be'

Jinny Earl Jinny Earl's drawingJinny Earl
Jinny Earl's drawing shows what her morning was like on a Covid ward at Ipswich Hospital

A nurse has created a piece of artwork to express a "typical day" working on a hospital Covid ward.

Jinny Earl, who works at Ipswich Hospital, said she took pen to paper as it was "impossible to explain to anyone how hectic and busy it can be".

The drawing shows her wearing PPE, with daily tasks written across the top and "everything I was faced with" during a drug round scrawled down the sides.

Mrs Earl said she drew it after a day that left her "feeling overwhelmed".

Jinny Earl Jinny EarlJinny Earl
Mrs Earl said she created the drawing as it was "impossible" to explain how "busy it can be"

The 53-year-old said it was "difficult to explain a typical working day as a nurse" so she thought she "would express it through art".

Daily routine jobs written across the top include "drug rounds, morning lunch and tea", "sit [patients] up for meals and feed patients" and "wash, assist [patients] with hygiene needs".

Listed down the sides, things Mrs Earl had to deal with while starting her morning drug round include "wandering [patient] covered in faeces trailing behind him" and [patient] "sad and upset, wants to die".

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On her apron, it says "one step forward, two steps back", which is what Mrs Earl said it can feel like.

The mother-of-two from Ufford, who has been a nurse for more than 30 years, said creating the picture "helped me relax and clear my mind".

Jinny Earl A close up of Jinny Earl's drawingJinny Earl
Across the top of the drawing, Mrs Earl has put her daily routine tasks

After posting a photo of the image on Facebook, she said she had comments including "depicts the situation", "can relate" and "exactly how it is and how it feels".

Mrs Earl, who usually works as an orthopaedic specialist nurse but has been redeployed to Covid wards, said: "I feel proud to have been able to create an image which other healthcare workers can relate to, and can say to others 'this explains in a small way how hectic work is, why I have so much on my mind, and why I'm exhausted'."

Jinny Earl A close up of Jinny Earl's drawingJinny Earl
While down the sides, there is "everything" Mrs Earl was faced with during a morning drug round

Weekly figures showed Ipswich and Colchester Hospitals had 526 patients with Covid-19, which was up from 464 a week ago.

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