COVID-19 Archives - Page 6 of 7

An Intimate Glimpse of Community Health Nursing During the Pandemic

Photo courtesy of Monica M. Finifrock.

We hear a lot about frontline nurses and the trauma they’ve endured throughout the year fighting the world’s deadliest pandemic in 100 years. Their stories are harrowing and heroic and shine a much deserved spotlight on the importance of the profession. And yet COVID-19 has touched not only those working in ICUs and EDs—but in every area of health care. Our December In the Community article, “Keeping Calm in the Buffer Zone,” is just one example of a nurse touched by COVID-19 in her daily work.

Community health as a ‘buffer zone.’

When the article opens, author Monica M. Finifrock is on her way to work at a community health clinic in Seattle. It’s April and the pandemic is beginning to take a toll.

I don’t consider myself on the front lines of the pandemic . . . I’m not watching patients take their last gasps of air or making hard decisions about who gets a ventilator and who doesn’t. I’m a community health nurse, and my role during the COVID-19 pandemic is to do exactly what I always strive to do—serve the community.

Calling her clinic a “buffer zone,” Finifrock argues that community health clinics […]

Amy M. Collins, managing editor2020-12-10T08:42:36-05:00December 10th, 2020|COVID-19, narratives, nursing stories, Public health|0 Comments

‘What a Decade This Year Has Been’: Nurses Worldwide Double Down on Commitment to Care

The year nobody expected.

A mere dozen months ago, we were all set to celebrate the International Year of the Nurse and Midwife, poised to shine in the global spotlight with the spring release of the first State of the World’s Nursing report. There were plans to fete us with dinners and awards. “Give them ribbons, buttons and badges to wear,” one website suggested.

How quaint and frivolous that sentiment seems now in light of the continuing shortages of the masks, face shields, gowns, and gloves that we need to protect ourselves, our patients, our families and communities from COVID-19

Nurses in the spotlight.

The pandemic changed everything—except for the fact that nurses did land squarely in the spotlight this past year. Nurses—as always—were asked to multitask when the first confirmed cases led to sustained global transmission. We dug in even as we pivoted, attempting to prevent hard-won health gains from being reversed. For example, women still needed prenatal care. Lockdowns didn’t preclude families from requiring essential preventive and lifesaving treatments for countless infectious and chronic diseases—including malaria, HIV, TB, diabetes, and cancer—that suddenly took […]

Guest Author2020-12-04T10:33:26-05:00December 4th, 2020|COVID-19, Nursing, nursing perspective, nursing roles, Public health|0 Comments

Frontline Nurses Speak Out – A Health Care Crisis That ‘Didn’t Have to Be This Way’

Themes of heartbreak, heroics, exhaustion, sadness, and anger.

Previously on this blog, I posted about the Frontline Nurses WikiWisdom Forum, an initiative AJN joined back in March to bring forth the experiences and thoughts of nurses working at the point of care during the COVID-19 pandemic. Together with Cynda Rushton (Johns Hopkins School of Nursing & Berman Institute of Bioethics and AJN editorial board member) and Theresa Brown (nurse, author, and AJN contributing editor) and the folks at New Voice Strategies, we solicited stories from nurses from around the country. Of the many who visited the site, 463 nurses joined and shared their experiences.

Forum moderator Cindy Richards, a professional journalist, worked with four “thought leaders” from the nurses to organize the themes and recommendations from the rich content posted by the nurses.

And while we recognize that the pandemic is far from over (United States cases as of September 20 were over 6.7 million, approaching 200,000 deaths and still on the rise), we felt we had reached a critical mass of content. The stories echoed repetitive themes of heartbreak, heroics, exhaustion, sadness, and anger.

“Nurses often put their patients’ needs before their own. That didn’t change during the pandemic. What did change is that nurses saw the […]

Share this:
Facebook
Bluesky
X
LinkedIn

Shawn Kennedy, MA, RN, FAAN, editor-in-chief (emerita)2020-09-22T09:47:24-04:00September 22nd, 2020|COVID-19, infectious diseases, Nursing, nursing perspective, Public health|0 Comments

Nurses: In the Face-Off With COVID, We’re Doing ‘Alright’

We did alright during the HIV/AIDS epidemic. We’ve done alright during Ebola. We’re doing alright during COVID. We’ve done alright through war, earthquakes, tsunamis, landslides, and typhoons. We’re neither politicians, nor business owners; we’re not in banking or finance (though some of us might have a side hustle or two).

We’re nurses, and we show up.

Let’s be clear, alright is not “OK,” it’s not “good,” and currently it’s “head barely above water.” Alright is persistence, though, and it’s perseverance. We’re all suffering. Those of us who have worked in past epidemics are having flashbacks, we still don’t have enough protective gear, and we’re scared to death of bringing COVID home to our loved ones.

Here’s a real gem, to boot: When COVID started and picked up exponential speed in the U.S., we were touted as heroes. And now as the waves of cases roll in again, because of the extraordinary financial hit that health care has taken we’re the first to be flexed off and furloughed.

“Hey hero, thanks for your service! We can’t pay you any longer. Good luck.”

Why we keep showing up.

But we’re doing alright, and this is why: There is a sense of profound meaning in the work that we do. As impossible as it is some days, when we provide patient […]

Guest Author2020-08-03T09:54:30-04:00August 3rd, 2020|COVID-19, infectious diseases, Nursing, nursing perspective, Public health|3 Comments

Every Frontline has a Backline: What Nursing Can Learn from Rugby

Photo credit: KJ Feury

Have you ever had a day at work that could only be fixed by an ice cream from your favorite creamery or by a hug from your best friend? Every shift during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic felt like this.

Unfortunately, because I work as an RN in a pediatric ICU at a large hospital in northern New Jersey, social restrictions that coincide with COVID-19 forestalled my usual comfort measures. After the start of the COVID-19 pandemic and during my reassignment in the COVID-19 ICU, I could no longer truly “leave” work. Work came home and walked with me throughout my day.

Dozens of IV pumps lining hallways, countless boxes of gowns, gloves, masks, and rubber shoes scattering the unit; ventilator alarms sounding; coworkers with surgical caps and masks, only identifiable by their eyes. The once medical–surgical unit transformed into a critical care unit equipped to care for COVID-19 patients.

After donning and doffing personal protective equipment (PPE), giving medication, adjusting ventilators, and updating families, you leave your 12+ hour shift wondering if you did your best. In the chaos of an unfamiliar unit, caring for patients with an unfamiliar virus, did I do everything to create the best outcome for my […]

Guest Author2020-07-22T10:18:03-04:00July 22nd, 2020|COVID-19, infectious diseases, Nursing, nursing perspective, nursing stories, Public health|3 Comments