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‘It is Hell Here,’ Kenyan-Born Nurse Working in the US Says over Covid-19

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John Wanjohi
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'It is Hell Here,' Kenyan-Born Nurse Working in the US Says over Covid-19

A Kenyan-born nurse living and working in the US has spoken about the challenges health workers are facing in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak.

Dorothy Ogega, a geriatric nurse based in Indianapolis, Indiana, shared her experience during a video interview with Citizen TV’s Jeff Koinange on Wednesday night.

Dorothy, who works an 18-hour shift, said she is constantly exposed to the virus on a daily basis and her worst fear is contracting the illness and transmitting it to her children.

“Yeah, it is hell here. It has been very challenging since we had our first case and I am very scared. Being a Kenyan and a nurse here, I am very scared,” said Dorothy.

“At the moment we have 60,000 patients and 807 deaths [in the US]. Being a geriatric, I work with the elderly and they are the most vulnerable. Their immune system is not able to contend with the virus,” she added.

To make the matter worse, she said the US is running out of essential equipment including face masks and gowns and ventilators. “…We are running out of supplies and we are struggling. The US was not ready for this,” the mother of three boys notes.

“My boys are grown enough so they understand but again, I am their mommy to them so I have to assure them. I have to take off my clothes in the garage, leave them there. It is not an easy thing to do.”

“Please my fellow Kenyans, let us heed to the social distancing because this virus is there,” Dorothy pleads.

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79 COMMENTS

      • If she keeps on like this,…
        If she keeps on like this, then she needs to stay Away from her kids for now. The kids will Understand.

      • But how can she be working…
        But how can she be working as a “live-in” while she has kids?? She only got 6 hrs left to cook, feed the kids and one hour to take a cat-nap! No wonder she is unloading her emotions to Jeff! Hang in there baby-gal! Nawaoooo!

    • I work weekend double…
      I work weekend double shifts . Each shift is 8 hours x2 =16 hours. Plus a nurse has to give report and document and adds up to 18 hours or more. So yes , one can work 18 hours .

      • @betty – you are required to…
        @betty – you are required to do the documentation as you attend to every patient. There is a lot of available time to do documentations within an 8 hr shift.

        So, get yourself organized and plan according to complete the scheduled work within a double shift of 16 hrs. That is a lot of time if you plan your activities well.

        The 2 extra hours you work is technically cheating your employer under the pretext that your are doing document. Kenyans and magendo!!! Shadiness follows you wherever you go, all over the world!

      • US nurses federal & state s…
        US nurses federal & state s labor laws hours is 16 hrs max/24 hrs. Charting & documentation must be completed before then unless someone lacks time management skills, is lazy or just trying to milk the clock.

    • It is not the number of…
      It is not the number of hours which an issue here but the exposure. How do you know they have not been asked to work longer due to shortage of staff and increase of patients . stop exposing this lady as a liar . Use your common sense

  2. Social distancing is…
    Social distancing is impractical in kenya’s overpopulated slums! You can pretty much hear your next door neighbor snoring! Corona shall come to pass!

  3. Dorothy., speak for where…
    Dorothy., speak for where you are and the level of preparedness that your state is encountering not same narrative ok CNN. Sounds like you work in a nursing home. I don’t expect your facility to take care of any COVID cases. You are at the bottom of that list so you shouldn’t be running your mouth. 18 hours is worrisome to me. Infact I am not sure what labor laws in US support that. Secondly I am not sure if you have any sought of permission unless you are in media relations at your facility to be it’s spoke persons. Thirdly your state is employment at will state., if the risk supersedes the benefit., join the line with unemployment. I hate for people who keep talking about issues just to seek relevance. So the best you can and you didn’t have to call Kenya to be on news. I guess you being Luo is given. I am too but don’t feel need to call Jeff what will he do ? Nonsense

    • She just exposed her…
      She just exposed her employer to investigations by the state med board. The government will question 18 hr work schedule anywhere in America. The issues she has discussed here with Jeff should be discussed with her employer.

      This Larry Midowo’s sister seems to have some issues with the truth; and that is what will get her in a huge trouble to a point of losing her nursing license! Go figure big head!!

      • @mike – How did he turn…
        @mike – How did he turn tribal while he says he is a Luo too! He just confirmed the exaggerations; and said he does not like it either.

    • @Omosh be sensible and leave…
      @Omosh be sensible and leave her alone. cant you guys try to figure out how to help each other instead of attack . what is the deal here to attack someone who is only expressing her experience. whether she is a cleaner of doctor she did not get money from Jeff . we are free to express our selves they way we want . let those kenyan doctors come and they will be put on the front line like they do in the army foreign solders workig for usa . shame on you all who care if about hours and not about safety

    • @Omosh; Ogega is a Kisii…
      @Omosh; Ogega is a Kisii name so leave Luos alone on this one.

      @ Dorothy, My suggestion is that you reduce your workload because being tired puts people at the risk of being less careful thus being at a higher risk of being contaminated. If you get contaminated by that virus, your health and the health of your patients will be at a higher risk. The money you are running after won’t be as sweet as you assume if you get COVID-19. It’s better to do your one shift per day and go chill with your kids. Too much work reduces your productivity and your immunity.

  4. I went by the Emergency room…
    I went by the Emergency room in a Yale University emergency room and you have to sign up with your health insurance to get a goddamn face mask.
    So much for the land of opportunities

  5. What is a geriatric nurse…
    What is a geriatric nurse working 18 hours for? The ER Nurses are the once working long hours dealing with Corona. Wacha uongo, unless you work as a live in nunny, I doubt if there is a hospital that allows employees to do more than 16 hrs.

    • Don’t worry! We just gonna…
      Don’t worry! We just gonna assume she works as a live-in nanny nurse where the kids go to work with her. Life in America can be tough; you know! And she may also be exaggerating to make Jeff pull the pin on the fire extinguisher – smoking, smoking, and smoking! – oh my oh my; it is very hot in here!

  6. I watched this throughout as…
    I watched this throughout as Dorothy gave all the stories about being a nurse in the US. I am a nurse, trained and worked in the US for over 5yrs before I called it quits and returned to Ke. First of all, Dorothy, you don’t become a geriatric nurse by working in a nursing home. Second, if you pick up the typical Kenyan way double doubles in a nursing home don’t come to tell us on a national tv that you work 18 hrs a day. That was a waste of our airtime and a let down from both Jeff and citizen tv. For your info, no hard feelings….I am nurse lecturer with a PhD so don’t think I’m jealous or anything. I just couldn’t fathom all the lies from you. The situation is bad for sure but speak facts. Very soon your employer will catch up with you. Next time please tell the media house to look for a real nurse working in a real hosp and taking care of real covid pts. For now, sorry… I know you are an lpn in a nursing home in IN. That’s the end of my Rant

    • @phd-nurse-lecturer cum ex…
      @phd-nurse-lecturer cum ex-diaspora: it sounds like you are the one who should have gone on Jeff TV! You are ranting a little too much while you couldn’t hang as a nurse in America – should we call you lazy? Or you want to tell us the call for national building forced to return home? Don’t lie! Any nurse working in any environment is at risk of getting the coronavirus. Your fellow nurse on Jeff TV just gave her version of what she thought could happen in her work place. You can go on Jeff TV and rant more about your nurse PhD! And don’t go there to conduct a world class bragidaiso! We will tune you out!

        • Wow, some of the comments…
          Wow, some of the comments here just make anybody burst in a wide range laughter! Coronavirus ghost have brought both tears and laughter alike! It is therapeutic to ? laugh! Hi Jeff, it is smoking in this page – just pull the pin on the fire extinguish. You need to invite Dorothy and the PhD lecturer nurse together, one more time so we can all laugh!!!

      • Phewww… I’m only here to…
        Phewww… I’m only here to read comments, but truth be told. When guys go to manjuu let them not tell lies to seek sympathy. 18 hours? Nope, covid pts in a nursing home? Nope. Geriatric nurse? Nope. Simply tell Jeff that you’ve picked up 16 straight hours so that you can make more money the Kenyan way. comeon Dorothy… cooooome on

    • Kenyans na ma-titles jameni!…
      Kenyans na ma-titles jameni! So you have a PhD and she has an LPN, so what? Get some manners, you feeling bad she was interviewed and you were not? Your Pulling Her Down (PHD) is inconsequential

    • @phd-guru, thanks for…
      @phd-guru, thanks for faintly advertising yourself as you cut down on an lpn who is working so hard to feed her family in a very tough situation. The coronavirus does not recognize titles ( your PhD, lecturer, and a new kid in the halls of lecturing nurses) are concerned! One would expect that a Nurse with a PhD would be more sympathetic with a junior nurse in the work that she does. Stop dropping your trousers in the public arena and bending over your rear end to moon others simply because you have a bought PhD. Put your house in order and grow up to a level of a PhD lecturer. Stop cutting other down – we have had enough of your kind worldwide. Stop ? it lecturer PhD girly!

    • @phd – yes you are very…
      @phd – yes you are very jealous of Dorothy! And mark you, you ain’t the first nurse lecturer with a PhD in the world! Do your job quietly and let others do the same. Stop propping yourself and probably you don’t even know anything about being a nurse – it sounds like it from your faint arrogance here!!!

    • @returnee – why don’t you…
      @returnee – why don’t you join the Kenya Army and become a General? That who Uhuru is hiring because the PhD holders like have failed the country with corruption, glorifying yourselves, stealing, etc. Maybe as a General Kenyans will listen to your arrogance as you claim how many you killed in Kisimayu! Get down the high horses!

    • Dorothy looks so happy to be…
      Dorothy looks so happy to be on Jeff Koinange Live! She does not look like she is in HELL any more. Hi Jeff, please invite Dorothy and the nurse lecturer to doke it out in your show. It surely will make some good TV comedy to your audience! Just suggesting Jeff!!!?

  7. Stop it Dorothy!!! You work…
    Stop it Dorothy!!! You work at a nursing home and you claim to be exposed???! Wacha kutudanganya wewee!!!

    • There have been some nursing…
      There have been some nursing homes that were very hard hit especially in Upstate NY.

    • @precious – coronavirus…
      @precious – coronavirus started in a nursing home in the state of Washington. Having a pretty name doesn’t mean that you are well learned! A well rounded citizen (mentally) does her research well before underrating others. Sad!

      • Corona crossed the border…
        Corona crossed the border from the infected Chinese that have done taken over Vancouver

        • Oh well, lessons well…
          Oh well, lessons well learned! Them guys are the same folks beating Kenyans in the buttocks while they have put the entire world at a standstill with a crazy pandemic!!!

      • @Magy! Thank you for…
        @Magy! Thank you for noticing my pretty name. I am actually a nurse so yes I’d call myself learned! She relays the experience of an E.R nurse. At the nursing home patients with symptoms have to be sent out to the hospitals for obvious reasons. Evidence based!

        • “Learned” is for the crooked…
          “Learned” is for the crooked lawyers, the so called “learned friends”! @precious, you are just a well educated dame worth the ears and eyes of a tall and handsome Maasai Moraan! I roar like a he lion! I build the hut, you pay the dowry!

      • @Magy! Thank you for…
        @Magy! Thank you for noticing my pretty name. I am actually a nurse so yes I’d call myself learned! She relays the experience of an E.R nurse. At the nursing home patients with symptoms have to be sent out to the hospitals for obvious reasons. Evidence based!

        • @precious – Oh, pretty name…
          @precious – Oh, pretty name nurse!!! Cute! Well, one precious sweetie would do me just right! Hope you work 18 hrs too!

    • @Precious, good that she is…
      @Precious, good that she is working in a nursing home. They abandoned a nursing home in Spain. So many elderly people died there and others were found still alive in their bed.

    • She never said she was a…
      She never said she was a nurse PhD lecturer! So, a nurse is a nurse; even one with a nurse PhD lecturer stuff! I think you are very jealous of this Lpn! Are you??

  9. I don’t envy her but it…
    I don’t envy her but it sounds like she is getting overtime by the bucketful per Indiana labor laws.

    Hospitals and residential care facilities may enter into an agreement with employees for a work period of 14 consecutive days instead of 7 consecutive days. However, the employee must be paid no less than 1.5 times the regular rate for employment in excess of 8 hours in a workday or 80 hours in that 14-day period (IN Code Sec. 22-2-2-4).

  10. I see someone who was hungry…
    I see someone who was hungry for attention. She is an attention seeker or attention whores. What a bunch of baloney?

    • Are you saying all nurses…
      Are you saying all nurses are whores, attention seekers, and they all eat baloney meat; you included? Wow, good to know – this is really smoking!!!

  11. I am a medical technologist…
    I am a medical technologist and u.s a. trained.I worked for Quest diagnostic before returning to Kenya. How does a nurse understand that her hospital is running short if supplies. Diaspora guys stop this nonsense of lies. Dorothy, madowo you guys went there the other day. Obama,Kiano and many more were there before you were there,but not with the lies you are telling us. Last year I saw one LPN graduate telling relative she’s a specialist nurse.

    • @peter – what is the…
      @peter – what is the difference between you and those lying here by telling the world their titles? – you just advertised your titles first before you short changed yourself by glorifying your titles! Gees Peter!!

      You seem to be suffering from the same disease the madowo, the PhD nurse, Dorothy and the rest are suffering from.

      Get a date with Jeff so you can tell us more about being a medical technologist where ever you work and how your beefed credentials will solve the issues of coronavirus! Give us a damn break!

  13. What is going on here? This…
    What is going on here? This beautiful, beautiful lady has not said anything remotely negative…Chuki hii yote? Inalipa rent in your souls?

    First; an LPN is a nurse. Just as the name says, Licensed Practical Nurse. Inamlipia rent na watoto wake.
    Second; I’d trust an LPN to tell me about real field nursing as opposed to a PhD. A PhD is a book worm; sure enough, you are teacher. Call yourself lecturer, professor, tutor…the bottom line is you teach. Many people can sit around and get PhDs. It is a time wasting big title that in most cases adds very little value to life; my personal opinion. I said in most cases. And there is this small saying that goes “those who really know how to do things do them, and those who do not know
    teach them”. There is truth in this with regard to professions that are “practiced”. We practise law, medicine, nursing, pharmacy etc. It is not enough to be taught. The meat is in the doing. Dorothy, who may or may not work in a nursing home is right. It is also true that Covid-19 has put pressure on old people’s living arrangements due to their vulnerability. The long hours may just be true.
    For that reason, I ask yo’ll to balance whatever chips you have on your shoulders. The unprovoked negativity is not helpful. Thank you very much.

    • No chuki here. I’m just…
      No chuki here. I’m just seeing ? signs. If she is a LPN in IN,I assume she has experience which means around $30/HR at an overtime rate of $45/HR at 10 hrs daily + 8 at regular pay which means up to $770 per day or $3850 a week max. This son of Mumbi says go get yours. That is good money and money is good when Piled High and Deep(PhD).

    • @seneca – I know several PhD…
      @seneca – I know several PhD nurses who take up ordinary teaching jobs of nursing lessons but have never been in a real hospital environment to treat patients.

      This @returnee PhD is just a purely arrogant trainer who is cutting down on an LPN who could be her student. The PhD seems to have a “cone” in her butt simply because she lectures some place in Kenya; as she has already confirmed!

      I have never seen a situation where the teacher is competing with a student. Maybe the PhD nurse just got pissed off because the LPN is making more money in dollars compared to the few shillings she gets paid in Kenya while holding what she thinks is a very big title; the PhD lecturer nurse without real life experience!

    • Everything you have said…
      Everything you have said here is similar to what the PhD lecturer said. The only difference is that you are in Massachusetts and she is in Kenya! You are both propping your horns at the expense of a poor Dorothy. Why not go talk on Jeff Koinange Live since you know nearly everything – law, medicine, nursing, pay scales, geography, chemistry, pharmacy, politics, human anatomy, geriatrics, jelly-curls, facial message, feet rubbing, history and what have you!! And have @practised@ it all!

  14. @Dorothy Ogega: We…
    @Dorothy Ogega: We understand that this virus is scary and have changed our lives. However, I don’t appreciate you spreading Fear by saying this place is “Hell” We are the the Epicenter of Covid-19 and to be honest your statement is extreme. You might have wanted some publicity of some sort but state facts not fear.

  16. The moral of the story is…
    The moral of the story is stay home if you can. Many of us wish we had that opportunity.

  17. I don’t blame her for…
    I don’t blame her for claiming 18hours. Probably they are. Many of us don’t understand or have no idea when you hear “state of Emergency”. If you live in one of those states which has declared one, just take a few minutes to read and see. Example if your drivers license expired in the state of Maryland this month you can still drive and use it as your I’d no question asked until 30 days after the emergency is over. Want to prove it.. Go to http://www.mva.maryland.gov and take a minute unless you are dumb to understand with your PhD. Log into her state and check her State board regulations regarding State of Emergency. Just a little homework can clear some pride and leave many informed.

  18. She isn’t telling a lie.
    The…
    She isn’t telling a lie.
    The 18 hrs is reality.
    Please be brainy and not just DIGITAL.

    • @jn – let me try to be the…
      @jn – let me try to be the brainy here – Dorothy meant 18 hrs per week! But I assume JN you mean 18 hrs every day for 5 days in a week; weekend included! Is that brainy enough for you JN?

  19. I don’t blame her for…
    I don’t blame her for claiming 18hours. Probably they are. Many of us don’t understand or have no idea when you hear “state of Emergency”. If you live in one of those states which has declared one, just take a few minutes to read and see. Example if your drivers license expired in the state of Maryland this month you can still drive and use it as your I’d no question asked until 30 days after the emergency is over. Want to prove this.. Go to http://www.mva.maryland.gov and take a minute unless you are dumb to understand with your PhD and other big titles. Log into her state and check her State board regulations regarding State of Emergency. Just a little homework can clear some pride and leave many informed.

    • @wewiwewiwewina – thats…
      @wewiwewiwewina – thats sharp! Should we call you the PhD holder, or the dr then? What’s your professional background? Research!?

  21. Men we thinks Kenyans in…
    Men we thinks Kenyans in Kenya are stupid, I guess we take it to diaspora with us. An apple cannot fall far from the tree. We have google and smartphones and computers, we don’t use them to check simple information at our fingertips. I realised there is too much we can understand from corona. Yes.. State of emergency meant a lot of rules are relaxed hence I believe the lady about her 18 hours. Just Google a state which has declared emergency and do some reading on specific departments. You will be surprised the information which is out there and prove you don’t know Jack..

    • @ignorant – Ok Jack – your…
      @ignorant – Ok Jack – your psydo name says everything about you! And where is the beaf you brainy? Next to the apple tree; dr Evil!?

  22. Now everyone here has a PHD…
    Now everyone here has a PHD on US labor laws and Nurse’s work schedules. Most major hospitals in US have geriatric wings, like short stay for Alzheimer’s patients with medical needs that can’t be addressed in nursing homes. Nursing homes are definitely not equipped to tackle this virus. Best practice dictates that the elderly, who are among the most vulnerable groups to this virus, receive special attention while secluded from the general public. That would sure create a geriatric wing wouldn’t it? Most states prohibit 24hrs straight shifts and one is required to have at least an 8 hr break before his/her next shift. These rules could be temporarily suspended or waived accordingly. Most retail and manufacturing jobs have peak seasons around the holidays, their associates are mandated to work up to 18 straight hours and no vacations can be scheduled or approved around the time. What makes you think that flexibility can’t be applied in these unique, ones in a lifetime kinda event. Haven’t you heard of health workers working none stop during natural disasters or terrorist attacks?All your uncalled for negativity should be redirected to the real core of your personal struggles not at someone who’s actually a hero at these challenging times. No one has proof to discredit anything she’s said. And here we are ‘expert’ giving their unsolicited fact less nonsense. Jipange na wachana na wenzako . Live and let live. Ati PHD in nursing??‍♂️ I heard of keyboard warriors not keyboard scholars and intellects.

    • @Wachaushenzi – you were…
      @Wachaushenzi – you were doing so well until you said retail workers are sometimes mandated to work up to 18 hrs.
      Which retail stores are you talking about? Not even during the krazy thanksgiving sale are employees mandated to work 18 hrs ( much less even 16).
      The only way one works that long is if they have 2-3 jobs and hop from one place to the next. But that is in no way the same as having 1 employer mandating an employee to work 18 straight hrs. I know this because I am in the retail industry. ( have been for 15 years).

      • @wachenzi is off the handle!…
        @wachenzi is off the handle! He say he works 24 hrs a day for seven days! I like that kind of work schedule because I don’t sleep much because my boy dodged me and I can’t find a new ride! Oh, hard times are all over the place, especially on women and that’s why you see us working like the devil!

    • @shenzi – I surely want to…
      @shenzi – I surely want to move to your state which restricts working 24 hr shifts if I ever get Trump to approve my shithole self to get there. How do you work that many hrs without sleep? Do you people become robots when you arrive in America? Boy, I sure love my sleep no matter how sweet the Bejamins can be. Do you have a PhD in the elderly management? That sounds like a very high profile PhD! I love this America every Kenyan desires to go live there! Ati, 24 hr shift, 7 1/2 days straight to get rich quickly!

  24. Ms. Dorothy O. based on her…
    Ms. Dorothy O. based on her story seems to be overwhelmed by her job. There are measures and procedures for employees like her to follow to remedy her situation. Seeking empathy from the wrong crowd(Kenyans) in which their situation is worse than in the US is a publicity stunt. It’s not worth airtime.

    • You call Jeff and give him…
      You call Jeff and give him your 2 senses! He about to invite both Dorothy and the PhD holder nurse to sort out who is telling the truth! And what measures, procedures and protocol can Dorothy follow to minimize the stress of 18 hr shift? Tell her since you sound like you have done that shift before.

  25. Wakenya chuki ni ya mini
    …
    Wakenya chuki ni ya mini
    Watu na mauchungu. Everyone working with people is exposed to this virus. Jameni ehh!

  26. Kenyans,
    Ms. Ogega is just…
    Kenyans,

    Ms. Ogega is just genuine, she’s just doing her assignment, this Corona virus is just real. So many are just out of work reason as to why the the US government is rushing out the bail out checks. We shouldn’t be embarking ourselves on the hours she’s logging in but, her safety from the virus should be the most important.

    Shalom everybody!

  27. What she said about supplies…
    What she said about supplies running low is true. Hospitals are sending out desperate appeals for people in the community to donate supplies to them. Let’s focus on what is important here; Social distancing. Let’s take care of ourselves and others. I respect all nurses and anyone on the front line that is putting their lives at risk to save others. Let’s hope none of you negative people are affected by this because you would beg someone like her to attend you to save your life or your loved one’s life. That’s some food for thought.

    As someone else mentioned, a state of emergency changes everything. She may well be working 18 hours with a day in between to rest. We don’t know and it doesn’t matter. She is caring for those who need care. We should be lifting her up instead of tearing her down. Would you do what she’s doing in these scary times?

    Dorothy, I applaud you for what you are doing in whatever capacity you are doing it. Continue your good work.

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