13th May 2021
Around the world nurses continue to battle COVID-19 daily with increased risk of being infected
By Ministry of Health
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The World Health Organization (WHO) designated 2020 as the “International Year of the Nurse and the Midwife” and while this designation came prior to the COVID-19 Pandemic, we cannot think of a better time to honour and recognize nurses for their commitment to the profession. Around the world nurses continue to battle COVID-19 daily with increased risk of falling ill as the nature of their job, put them at risk of contracting COVID-19 but they continue to press on.
Recognition is especially meaningful during the COVID-19 Pandemic. The nursing world quickly shifted attention from the WHO proclamation of the year of the nurse and midwife to the COVID-19 pandemic.
It is therefore important that the focus on nurses not be lost. Who could have ever imaged that the critical importance of nurses in our society would be brought into focus so clearly by the COVID-19 Pandemic? Every day the media highlights the threatening conditions nurses face and how severe staff shortages impact the healthcare systems ability to save lives.
Although life as we know it may have changed now to the new normal, the care character of nurses has not. We often talk about how nurses take care of “the rest of us” and how grateful we are for their extraordinary skill and compassion. More than ever the rest of us need to take care of nurses. One such way is to follow the Ministry of Health protocols to help minimize the virus spread and place less burden on our already over-worked nurses.
We all depend on the resilience of nurses their ability to deal with everything being thrown at them and still return the next day or night to do it all over again. We depend on nurses’ conviction no matter the circumstance not only to treat us every day with their clinical excellence, but also to deliver that care and compassion. The lessons of Florence Nightingale nursing practice during the Crimean War are still being applied today during the pandemic basic hand washing and maintaining standards of cleanliness.
Being on the frontline of the battle against this devastating virus we now are being heralded as Heroes. As we finally receiving this recognition we rightfully deserve, where are our nurses who were awarded during the Independence National Awards?
Let us show this recognition by not giving only lip service but by showing our nurses we appreciate them in a tangible way.
I take this time on behalf of the Board of Directors of the St. Lucia Nurses Association to applaud all nurses.
Thank You our COVID Heroes. You are truly the Voice to Lead. We salute you. We are Nurses and we ask what your superpower is.
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