According to the World Health Organization (2019), t he world needs 9 million more nurses  and midwives if it is to achieve universal health coverage by 2030. That is why the World Health Assembly designated 2020  to be celebrated as the International Year of the Nurse  and the Midwife, which also culminated with the 200^th birthday of Florence Nightingale, who was born on May 12, 1820 . Nurses and midwives make up more than 50% of the health workforce in many countries and are usually the front line of care and, in some cases, maybe the only provider in the area, especially in developing countries. They make a difference not just in individual patients' lives but also in the community. Due to their sheer numbers and the locations where they often work, nurses are vital players in improving public health outcomes around the world.

 

However, this worldwide celebration was dimmed when a pandemic due to a respiratory infection from COVID-19, a coronavirus, was declared in early 2020. Due to the pandemic, the nursing profession has been pushed to the limit. As a result of this, the decision was also made to extend the celebration of the Nurse and Midwife into 2021. Since the pandemic started, more than 112 million cases have been reported and about 2.5 million people have died around the world. In the United States today, more than 500,000 people have died, even though there continue to be scientific developments of several promising vaccines. Nursing is a hands-on practice and requires the nurse to be wholly present with the patients, and nurses know that healthcare is always changing as it is not the profession today than it was 5, 10, or even 20 years ago. In 1.5 page please answer the following:

 

1. What are three of the life lessons that you have learned during this coronavirus pandemic?
2. With this year being the Year of the Nurse and Midwife, how has this pandemic impacted your perception of nursing?
3. How is this pandemic mentally preparing you for your role as a Registered Nurse?

 

Answer:

1.)What are three of the life lessons that you have learned during this coronavirus pandemic?

     A lot has changed in the last several months and it likely won't be going back to being completely normal soon. This time staying at home has taught us a lot. We are all learning our life lessons and resetting our priorities. We need to hang on to these essential life lessons even when we start moving forward and go back to whatever new normal awaits us. How we lived our lives before this point included social medias and a sense of financial security and health invincibility because the stock market was doing well.

a.)Prioritizing our relationships with family and friends.  We should appreciate what we have, our chance to reconnect and understand each other. An opportunity to work on our interpersonal relationships, forgiving each other, love one another, make new memories and get creative with how we are spending our time together.

b.)Our Health is essential. Your health is at the center of your life. Every part of your life relies on you having good health.

c.)Small gestures have a huge impact on our well-being. It's the little things that you do and say that show how much you care.

2.)With this year being the Year of the Nurse and Midwife, how has this pandemic impacted your perception of nursing?

     Being in the Year of the Nurse and the Midwife during COVID-19 nurses have a positive perception of their roles during the coronavirus pandemic. Besides being responsible for their daily activities during the epidemic, they had additional roles of ensuring the safety and contentment of their patients.

COVID-19 is a new disease affecting and killing a large number of people across the world every day. One way to improve health care for these patients is to recognize their needs. We Nurses as a large population of health care staff, can be rich for sources of information and experience on patients' care needs.

3.)How is this pandemic mentally preparing you for your role as a Registered Nurse?

     Nurses in general, nursing leaders and managers are in the forefront of responding to the unique needs of their workforces during the COVID?19 crisis.

Mental health symptoms were highly prevalent in healthcare workers who cared for patients with COVID-19. Contributing factors were concerns that they would fall victim to COVID-19, fear of carrying it home to their families, a sense of vulnerability and loss of control, changes in work, and isolation.

     Nurses are attempting to cope in various ways. For example, they engage in self-talk, telling themselves that this is part of the job and that they have dealt with death before. They try to pretend that this is no different. Nurses use Clinical skills as a coping mechanism. Nurse's focus on technical expertise as a defense mechanism against anxiety.