Earlier in the year, the World Health Organization designated 2020 the International Year of the Nurse and Midwife, strategically timed to coincide with the 200th anniversary of Florence Nightingale’s birth. Of course, as 2020 progressed and we found ourselves in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, this designation took on a whole new meaning. Now more than ever, it’s plain to see why nursing is not just another profession — it’s a job for true heroes.
Nurses Are Selfless
It’s safe to say that no healthcare system was truly prepared for a pandemic of this magnitude. And rather than wallow in that fact, nurses put aside any trepidation they may have had and got right to work. Even before the scope and danger of this coronavirus strain was fully realized, nurses were right there in the trenches, doing all they could to save patients’ lives. And some of those nurses paid the ultimate price — Kious Kelly, an assistant nurse manager at Mount Sinai West Hospital in Manhattan, or ICU nurse Araceli Ilagan from Miami’s Jackson Memorial Hospital, for instance, who both cared for patients before succumbing to the virus’s effects themselves.
Nurses Are Resourceful
The pandemic has demonstrated the shortcomings of various healthcare systems, especially in response to something of this scale. It remains to be seen whether or not these revelations will spawn change in the future. But the situation has also proven something else about our nursing heroes: they’re resourceful, especially when it counts. When supplies, including personal protective gear, are at a minimum, nurses do whatever it takes (even using garbage bags as PPE in extreme cases!) to get the job done.
Nurses Don’t Give Up
Another thing that the COVID-19 pandemic has shown us is that nurses, even in the face of unprecedented odds, don’t give up. Right now, hundreds of thousands of nurses across the country — and many more across the world — are working long hours on little sleep, away from their families and loved ones, in downright dangerous conditions. While governments scramble to respond and office workers hunker down at home, nurses are out there on the front lines as you read this. They’re as brave as battle heroes in wartime, and if there’s one thing that this pandemic will teach us, it will be to not undervalue the contributions of the nurse.
Ready to make a difference?
If you’re interested in securing your dream job as a nurse to start impacting even more people’s lives, we’re here to help. Contact the staffing professionals at BOS Medical today.
