Rowena Brown (pictured), sister on our Intensive Care Unit at King George Hospital, will feature in tonight’s (Tuesday 16 March) documentary, 2020: The Story of Us. The documentary, on ITV at 9pm, explores intensive care through the eyes of those working on the frontline during the first wave of the pandemic.

Rowena, who has spent her entire ten-year nursing career at our Trust, was tracked down to take part after a difficult day saw her share a personal post on Facebook.

She said: “I don’t usually post serious or personal stuff, however, it had been a tough day and I’d realised the pandemic was starting to take a toll on my mental health, and I was missing my mum.

“I’d make a couple of short videos a week on my phone for the documentary, sharing my good days and bad days and everything in between. I did one in one of our wobble rooms. I loved the peace and quiet in there, and that I could close the door and have a cry, without having to worry about anyone seeing or hearing me.”

Throughout the pandemic, our Trust has introduced a range of ways to look after the mental and physical health of our teams, something which will remain a priority long after the pandemic.

As well as the wobble rooms, Rowena, of Ilford, also benefited from speaking to a psychologist. She is hoping her appearance in the documentary may help others, particularly in how dealing with the pandemic made her realise she had to look after her mental health.

She added: “A psychologist visited our team each week, however, I always felt too embarrassed to share my story. But I reached out one day after we had four deaths.

“She was fantastic; spoke to me like I was a human being and gave me exercises to help me. She also told me to take a minute out. My first reaction was we were too busy, however, she said I could take one minute. After that, I started going to one of our wellbeing rooms regularly. Sometimes it would be for a minute, sometimes ten. It was a safe space.”

Like many NHS colleagues, for Rowena, 33, it was difficult to escape Covid-19, even when not at work. This was impacted by the fact that her wife is also a nurse, and was redeployed to intensive care.

But there were things that made her smile, including the generous food donations delivered in the first wave which made her feel appreciated. And despite how tough the pandemic has been, it hasn’t dampened Rowena’s love for her job.

She said: “I am proud to be a nurse. I love that we help people in their darkest hour, which has been more apparent than ever during this time.

“Simple things can also make a huge difference, like video calling a patient’s family. I enjoyed speaking to families and seeing the relief on their faces when hearing about their loved ones. That would make me feel good for the rest of the day.”