Josephine and siblings enjoying a meal with their family
Source: Josephine Hughes
Those who have been working in the medical industry throughout Coronavirus have been taking on added roles and putting in extra hours at work, which has taken a toll on their family members.
Since being forced to move back home just four weeks after the academic year begun rural university student Josephine Hughes has been required to flip her lifestyle to adjust to homelife with family working in the medical industry.
She is the eldest of the three children living within the household and both parents are healthcare workers who have taken on added roles to assist with the response to COVID-19.
At home there is an expectation that Josephine keeps the house clean, the washing is done, dinner is cooked, the fire is kept going, and the dogs have been fed while the parents are at work for 12 hours each day.
Josephine is required to completes the majority of the household tasks as her younger sisters have a busier timetable to complete their studies.
Once her parents arrive home of an evening they try to spend time together as a family to escape the reality of what is occurring for a while.
Josephine is often in charge of cooking dinner for all five members of the family which is usually be served by 7:00 as the parents arrive home from work.
After they finish dinner, all siblings would work together to clean the kitchen to prevent the parents from becoming over worked .
Evenings activities used to bring family together
Once all the household duties are completed they have enjoyed playing board games and watching television as a family as it allows for the parents to have time at home which does not involve work.
By having extra activities of an evening as a family they have created an environment where “she does not have to be recognised as Dr Lisa Dark and she can just be recognised as mum or Lisa”.
During this time she can be the mum of the household who “wins Trivial Pursuit or she can pick what show the family watches each night.”
Covid-19 planing increases workload reduces time spend with family
Josephine’s step-mother is in charge of the Tamworth Hospitals response to COVID-19, this role requires her to create an efficient plan if there were to be an outbreak in the region.
Outside of work she is required to do copious amounts of planning for COVID-19 which has taken away time which she would dedicate to house work.
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