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Workforce Issues

Nurses are not heroes

22 July 2021
Comment
02 July 2021
Volume 30 · Issue 14

Over the course of this pandemic, nurses across the globe have been celebrated and honoured as ‘heroes’ in mainstream and social media because of their selfless dedication to serve and protect their patients from the novel coronavirus. However, this characterisation is problematic as it distracts attention from the enduring social issues affecting the profession.

The ‘nurses as heroes’ tribute sounds uplifting, but it has a degree of ambivalence. The heroism narrative has a problematic underlying character (Frisk, 2019), suggestive of accepting either physical danger or social sacrifice (Franco et al, 2011). Although the ‘hero’ tribute may be an acceptable societal reaction, it should be used cautiously because it distracts from the reality of nurses' concerns. These are:

  • Nurses have died from COVID-19. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the pandemic claimed 115 000 healthcare workers' lives worldwide in the first 17 months (De Castella, 2021). These statistics paint a grim picture. Healthcare workers, including nurses, have become infected and died in the service of their patients.
  • Nurses are unarmed ‘heroes’. Countries have mobilised their resources to manufacture and source personal protective equipment (PPE). This urgent demand worldwide resulted in a lack of PPE in many areas, endangering the safety of healthcare workers (WHO, 2020). Shortages of PPE is said to have contributed to 3600 deaths among health workers in the US (Glenza, 2021).
  • Mental health issues. The pandemic has dramatically impacted nurses' mental wellbeing. Long periods of caring for patients infected with COVID-19 at the bedside, fear of contracting the virus, and being away from significant others have been persistent over months (Pearce, 2020). The International Council of Nurses (ICN) has warned about the rising risk of exhaustion, burnout and stress-related disorders among nurses in the pandemic. National nursing associations have received reports of mental health distress among nurses working in COVID-19-related facilities (ICN, 2021).
  • The ‘hero’ tribute is not enough. The pandemic has highlighted the indispensable role of nurses. The burden of work and a perilous situation have magnified the call to invest in nursing through adequate compensation and a safe and healthy work environment. Nurses worldwide rallied to call their respective governments to increase their salaries in the midst of a pandemic. Recognising the crucial roles of nurses, government should reconsider nurses' salary and benefits.

The hero discourse can be seen as a tool to achieve various aims, such as the normalisation of the risk of exposure among nurses, advancing the discourse of nurses as model citizens and as a reward in itself (Mohammed et al, 2021). The ‘nurses as heroes’ tribute was rejected by nurses themselves, as revealed in a recently published ethnographic study because it connotes predefined characteristics of accepting physical risk, self-sacrifice and invincibility (Halberg et al, 2021).

The ‘nurses as heroes’ tribute distracts our gaze from more important, pressing issues affecting the profession.