My editorial for this issue of the BJN, the International Nurses Day issue, is handed over to you, the nursing profession. Every time a healthcare worker dies from COVID-19 our hearts break a little bit more.
I'll start with a posting on Twitter during the COVID-19 pandemic from a Nurse, a British Army Officer, Captain JR Potter:
‘Night shift done and it is the small things I think I'd care about.
Combing your hair, brushing your teeth, applying lip balm, holding your hand and telling you I am there. You are safe, do not be scared.
Nursing is more than a just a job and I love it’
This could have been said by any nurse anywhere in the world.
The following comments have been taken from various social media postings:
‘Stand down, return to base, Rest in Peace’
‘I hope his daughter knows that someone else's daughter saw her father just as that, someone's dad who was cared for, sick, hurting and alone and if she wonders—I squeezed his hand, told him I was sorry’
‘Please let us not forget the names of those nurses who have died as a result of COVID-19, let us honour them and remind our leaders of the lives they both could and can save. Let us not let those unsung heroes who have given the ultimate sacrifice go unrecognised’
‘… requires political leaders to prioritise and protect health workers and look beyond their national borders and collaborate internationally to address this global crisis … one world, not one country, not one nation …’
‘Nurses are highly educated professionals, combining expertise with compassion; emotional labour has always been there’
‘One of the fathers I had to call to tell him that his son had died had said how the fact that his son was alone when he died is something that will haunt him. He wasn't alone. I was sweating in my PPE but I was holding his hand stroking his hair and talking to him … he was not alone when his heart stopped … I am not an angel, I am a nurse, I am human’
‘If you feel that you are being put at risk with inadequate PPE at work it is important that you let us know’
‘Days like today are why I love my job. Put a speaking valve on a patient for the first time today, 25 days into his COVID-19-related ICU admission. I was able to call his wife and they had the loveliest chat! She said it was the best thing she had heard in her life’
Nothing more needs to be said, nothing more can be said.