Health

Nurses: The Heroes of Healthcare

The world has faced countless wars, pandemics, and the complication of an aging population. But in all these events, one factor that remained constant was the need for skilled nurses. In all the trying times that we have faced in the past, the selfless work of nurses has been a great support. They have made sure that people received the best care available, whether wounded during the war or infected during the pandemic. This is why nurses often receive titles such as “frontline workers” and “backbone of the healthcare. Click here Lifevac reviews.

The Heroism of Nurses

The pandemic in 2019 has been an eye-opener for the whole world. It paralyzed the healthcare system and essentially showed the dents in its systems and infrastructure. But it was the dedication of the nurses and their prompt response that saved humanity. Countless heroic stories of nurses during that time did not surface without any reason. They had to leave their family, stayed away from their kids in fear of carrying the virus to them, worked around the clock to help patients thronging the floors of hospitals, yet showed no sign of slowing down.

All these are why the valor of the healthcare workers, especially nurses, has become a hot topic of discussion in recent years. Nurses and doctors are the contemporary heroes of our time. No one challenges this fact after their work during the pandemic. Nurses did not only help the healthcare with swift patient care services but also by showing their readiness to learn about the new procedures and medications. As the pandemic gave a little relief, countless nurses have enrolled in advanced nursing programs to refresh their knowledge and get additional skills to treat their patients better. Their promptness in learning new ways, coming out of their comfort zone, and challenging themselves is praiseworthy. Other factors that constitute to making nurses heroes of healthcare include:

  • Their Courage And Dedication

Nurses appeared as the stars of the pandemic across the globe. Their dedication, perseverance, and steadfastness have been invaluable resources for healthcare and humanity overall. As the pandemic began, pictures of nurses wearing masks and PPE circulated across the new channels, fostering a novel public image of nurses as heroes. They gave the world new life with their services and valor, which seemed to be on the brink of extinction.

  • Remaining Firm In The Face Of Threat

The pandemic has not been a threat for ordinary people around the globe; it has been an equally dangerous event for healthcare workers, including nurses. Every time they wore and still wear the PPE kits, it is like preparing for the battlefield. They have to work with patients infected with the virus, often fighting for their life on the ventilator.

Watching countless patients lose their life to a disease that attacked stealthily and had no cure put an extreme toll on the minds of the nurses, but they stood firm against it and continued to deliver their services. Burnout is a common phenomenon in workplaces, but it is more widespread in nursing due to long shifts, no breaks, mental and physical fatigue, and emotional exhaustion.

  • Working In The Shortage Of Supplies

How scary is it to go into the battlefield without your weapons? It is like lying on the altar willingly or coming in front of a cannon knowing full well that you can die any time. This is what nurses faced in the pandemic. They cared for the patients when hospitals in even the most developed countries did not have enough supplies such as masks, Personal Protective Equipment, face shields, gloves, etc. Not just that, with an unprecedented influx of patients, medicines and equipment were always less than the required demand.

Nurses worked full-time even when viruses from all sides surrounded them and when one nurse had to look after numerous patients simultaneously. So, imagine yourself in the most uncomfortable PPEs and face shields all day long but still working tirelessly. Just a mental visual of their situation can unsettle you.

  • Nurses Are The Voices Of Those Who Are Not Heard

Making the voice of those who find no place to vent out their concerns is what the advocacy role of the nurses is all about. In healthcare, patients are closest to nurses because of their time spent with them. Patients and their families often don’t find a place in the hospital to communicate their concerns; they cannot reach the management or communicate with the decision-makers. The matter could range from the expensive nature of the treatment, unavailability of enough infrastructure, dissatisfaction with the services, problems navigating the complex system in healthcare, and countless others. It is where the heroic advocacy role of the nurses comes into play.

They take the various concerns of their patients to where they can be heard and get attention. They also have access to the management of a hospital, so they are best suited for this job. Their time spent with patients further reinforces the truthfulness and urgency of their claim. Not just patients, they also help patient families understand the intricacies of the disease, medication requirements, and the benefits of disease prevention and control. They also communicate to their management if systems in the hospital, such as billing, checkout, or transfers, are complicated for the patient and their families. This necessary bottom-to-top feedback often makes the management carry out essential changes.

The continuous service of nurses despite the challenges posed by the COVID pandemic has put them under the newfound limelight. Overnight, the world came to know about the work of nurses who were barely visible to the populace a while ago. But it won’t be justice to the profession and work of nurses to say that only the pandemic made them the heroes because they were and will always be heroes. However, heroes also need help. The rampant issue of burnout in nurses due to undue stress, workload, and emotional toll are some of the issues that need the immediate attention of policymakers.

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