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 care we can see that our work has an impact. Even if saving someone’s life is not possible, we have the platform to be compassionate. Every day. When we are caring for patients with wisdom and compassion, we find purpose.
As the stressors of this work increase, so too does a feeling of camaraderie. I’ve heard some of my colleagues say that they feel safer at work, surrounded by COVID patients, than they do out in public, because at least in the hospital they work with nurses who know what they’re doing and who understand the science of how to stay safe.
This battle, like so many of those that nurses have faced, is grueling and complex. What is steady and undeniable, however, is our strength. Count on us—we’ll keep showing up.
Tim Cunningham is vice-president, practice and innovation, at Emory Healthcare, and adjunct assistant professor, Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing at Emory Healthcare, Atlanta, Georgia. His Viewpoint, “The Burden of Resilience Should Not Fall Solely on Nurses,” will be published in AJN’s September issue.
I appreciate what you do. Keep up the good work. We need to convince all Americans to follow the science.
The problem sometimes is always showing up no matter what. Some of our nurses and healthcare providers are not showing up. They are critically ill in their own hospitals and some have died. Betrayed by their government and agencies such as the CDC and OSHA, who provide ever weakening “guidelines” that employers use to justify substandard PPE, abandoning non-COVID isolation procedure, extending PPE to failure, premature return to work without testing, lack of testing and an all-out war on the people who show up. Some have been so mistreated that they cannot take another shift of 7-9 patients, reprocessed non-guaranteed effective masks, and the constant fight to be respected not just as healthcare providers but as human beings. Nurse martyrdom does not make for good healthcare delivery. Something has to give. It needs to be more than a slice of pizza. Nurses are people and people have their limits mentally and physically and financially, How bad does it need to get?
This belongs on the front page of every newspaper and on all social media platforms. I was touched and am grateful for your clear, timely message Mr. Cunningham. Thank you.