Celebrating Our Profession, Celebrating Each Other
BCNU members and nurses around the world felt a well-deserved sense of pride last year when, for the first time, the World Health Organization (WHO) proclaimed 2020 the Year of the Nurse and Midwife. The year was chosen to coincide with the 200th anniversary of the birth of Florence Nightingale, one of the founders of modern nursing.
And how significant that WHO 2020 proclamation has been. Little could we have known in 2019 that 2020 would indeed become a year that has seen nurses rise to the challenge that is the COVID-19 pandemic. And as 2020 comes to a close, we can look back and see how nurses have played a critical role in saving lives and improving health on a provincial, national and global level.
Nurses have made a serious difference in the lives of patients, residents and clients. "Nurses should feel proud that the WHO is shining a light on them," says BCNU President Christine Sorensen. "But nurses will be the first to tell you that the best recognition comes in the form of action," she adds, noting how the challenges of the pandemic have only magnified the chronic problems nurses face every day in their working lives.
The nursing profession was already seeing its share of challenges with increased patient acuity, complex population needs and a health-care system struggling to meet demand. These factors have played a large role in the moral and professional distress many nurses are experiencing.
"The best recognition comes in the form of action."
"Before the pandemic, we had ample evidence showing how nurses were being impacted by the nursing shortage, and suffering from significant burnout due to high workloads," notes Sorensen. She says the election of a majority provincial government this year means there's an opportunity to turn the public's appreciation and goodwill towards nurses into actionable results that can benefit patients too. "It is more important than ever for the newly formed government to address nurses' key priorities, including confronting the opioid crisis, investing in seniors' care and addressing mental health needs," she argues.
The COVID-19 pandemic also provides a compelling window into the emotional and physical toll that nurses experience in the face of a public health threat that's still not fully understood. Nurses and other health-care workers are worried about the risks they face each working day. Comprising about 20 percent of COVID-19 cases in Canada, they are more likely to contract the virus than the general population.
The pandemic is a story of courage, dedication and professionalism by health-care workers, whose voices have gone largely unheard. Under protected, under-resourced and under-appreciated, they continue to provide care, despite grave fears for their own safety and the safety of colleagues, loved ones and patients.
When the WHO proclaimed 2020 The Year of the Nurse and Midwife, it identified key investment areas that could influence and improve health services around the world. This included investment in more nurse-led services, making nurses central to primary health care, employing more specialist nurses and investing in nursing leadership.
"Governments and policy makers must heed these calls if the promise of 2020's WHO declaration is to be realized," says Sorensen. "Action, not just sentiment, is what nurses expect and deserve." •
This year, BCNU encouraged members to take time to thank their colleagues and their nursing community for their ongoing efforts to provide safe patient care. We saw an outpouring of recognition and gratitude when hundreds of members wrote to tell us what their co-workers mean to them, and to acknowledge the important work they do.
Read their profiles here.
UPDATE (Winter 2020)