Covid-19 takes extraordinary nurse's life after birth of daughter

 

COVID-19 | The cemetery is no stranger to sombre grief, and today, the Bandar Tasik Puteri Muslim Cemetery, Cheras, became the setting of another heartfelt loss. This time it came from the medical fraternity and at the hand of Covid-19. 

It was five minutes before 3pm when a hearse emblazoned with Hospital Sungai Buloh on its side entered the cemetery compound. Just as the driver parked it beside a recently dug grave, several figures in full protective suits got out. 

"That's Abah! Abah! Abah! (father)" shouted a group of children, standing at the cemetery fence some 150 metres away.

One of the men in white raised his hand, and waved to his three sons and daughter, before turning his attention back to the hearse.

Lying inside was Artini Dzolkarnaini, his 41-year-old wife, and the mother of their five children.

However, that was as far as the children could be to say their last goodbye to their mother. Artini was diagnosed with Covid-19 in the middle of last month, before she succumbed to medical complications early this morning.

From afar, they watched as their beloved mother was carried by men in personal protective equipment into her final resting place. Their sobs broke the silence that gripped the cemetery.

This is the story of how a UiTM Hospital head nurse lost her life to the pandemic.

Artini, who specialised in coronary treatment, tested positive for Covid-19 during a screening exercise for the hospital staff in the second week of January.

According to her colleagues who were at the funeral, she was carrying her fifth child, and because of this, she was sent to Sungai Buloh Hospital for observation even though she did not show any symptoms. 

However, she took a turn for the worse when she had to be intubated to assist her breathing. 

"Because she needed to be intubated, doctors had to perform emergency Cesarean to save her baby. This is as Covid-19 patients need to be placed in a prone position when receiving treatment. 

"To save her, they needed to save her baby first," said a colleague, who only wanted to be identified as Yuni.

When the operation was carried out on Jan 22, Artini was in her 30th week of pregnancy. She gave birth to a baby girl.

It is learned that the victim's situation later showed improvement, to the extent that she no longer needed to depend on a ventilator. She was later transferred to UiTM Hospital, also located in Sungai Buloh.

However, this didn't last long as her condition deteriorated last night. After tirelessly trying to save her, Artini's colleagues had to accept that she had lost the battle. She was pronounced dead at about 5.30am.

"She was a fighter. A strong one. Since she was warded on Jan 14 until last night, Artini had fought for her life.

"But it seems this was as far as she could take the fight," said Nor'asikin Abdullah, another colleague and Artini's best friend.

A big loss to UiTM

Based on stories from her colleagues and friends, Malaysiakini learned that Artini was not just any ordinary nursing head.

Nor'asikin, who knew Artini since they were in nursing school some 20 years ago, said the victim was very passionate about the profession.

She had taken the initiative to further her studies up to a Master's Degree, specialising in critical care nursing.

"She also wrote a book. No UiTM nurse wrote a book before her," Nor'asikin added.

The nursing supervisor was referring to a book titled Coronary Treatment and Care written by Artini, which was published last year.

Another nurse identified as Ayu, who served under Artini at the Critical Care Unit (CCU), described her superior as someone who was ever willing to share knowledge with others.

"All of us in the ward, we learned to be better nurses under her guidance. She was always willing to teach us."

Busra, also serving in the CCU, said that Artini had brought UiTM's name to fame many times, including representing the university at an international forum which rallied cardiology specialists from around the world.

"She was a nurse, but she could do presentations to specialists.

"Her passing is definitely a great loss to UiTM," she said. - Mkini