Patient care and keeping staff safe are now top of our agendas
Happy International Nurses Day 2020! As the COVID-19 pandemic sweeps across the world, bringing with it illness, death and disruption to our daily lives, one thing is standing out—the bravery, commitment and dedication of our health and care staff, looking after people in their time of greatest need.
So I will begin by expressing my thanks and admiration to all the key workers who are helping us through this time of crisis. Thank you to the students who have volunteered to work in clinical practice, and thank you to the staff who have joined the temporary register to help us cope. Each and every person in the UK has a role to play in getting through this, whether it is simply following social distancing measures, staying home or working in our services to provide direct patient care. As a nation and as professionals we are stronger when we act together.
The impact that this illness will have on us as a society cannot be underestimated and its effects are going to be with us for some time to come. The social isolation measures are likely to be challenging to our mental wellbeing, and the problems associated with loneliness and isolation will be exacerbated for many. Acts of kindness and support take on different meaning when we are faced with such a threat to our health. It is okay to say you are struggling—this is a testing time for us all and we need to turn to each other for support. I have found the outpouring of support on Thursday evenings an uplifting and life-affirming thing to take part in. I also enjoy the many fun and positive messaging I see on Twitter daily, and it is wonderful to see the celebrations when patients who have been ill with COVID-19 recover from their illness and go home.
Nurses make up 50% of the world's health workforce and 2020 is dedicated to nurses and midwives in recognition of the tremendous contribution these professions make to global health and care systems. The International Council for Nurses gave us the theme ‘Nurses: a voice to lead—nursing the world to health’. Never has a tagline been more appropriate. The challenge of COVID-19 came on the back of one of the toughest winters that health services have ever experienced. Celebrations have rightly been postponed, and the real business of care and keeping staff safe now dominates all our time.
Many digitally supported changes have been brought in to help deliver services and changes have been made to many patient pathways. Providing care outside hospital environments has taken on a sense of urgency. It will be interesting to see whether some of the innovative practices brought in to manage the crisis will remain after the pandemic, and only time will tell. While many plans have been put on hold, Wales still intends to extend the Nurse Staffing Levels (Wales) Act to paediatric inpatient areas. If passed, the law will come into force by autumn 2021.
Best wishes to you all—keep safe and well.
Together, we can tackle the current and local global and challenges
When we looked ahead to the International Year of the Nurse and the Midwife 2020, how many of us could have imagined the challenge we would now be facing as individuals, professionals, countries—as humanity as a whole.
While our attention is quite rightly focused on fighting the COVID-19 pandemic, the year started out differently. In early January, soon after the restoration of the Northern Ireland Assembly, we launched the International Year of the Nurse and the Midwife. Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), delivered a powerful video address at our launch event, where he affirmed his commitment to working with us ‘to unlock the power of nurses and midwives, for a healthier Northern Ireland, and a healthier world’.
As Chief Nursing Officer for Northern Ireland, it is important to me that we harness the potential of our future leaders and so I was delighted to also launch our Nightingale Challenge Global Leadership Development Programme. This programme is an important element of our wider 2020 Nightingale Challenge Northern Ireland, which aims to equip and empower the next generation of nursing and midwifery leaders.
Signalling a new era for nursing and midwifery in Northern Ireland, the Health Minister published the Nursing and Midwifery Task Group Report (NMTG) in early March, having accepted almost all of the recommendations put forward by the independent NMTG.
The report sets out the critical issues facing nursing and midwifery within the context of the evolving health and social care needs of the population in Northern Ireland over the next 10–15 years. The task group report also highlights that the voice of nursing and midwifery has been listened to and heard as we move forward with transforming the health and social care system.
As a result of the key strategic priorities identified in the report we will now seek to:
Turning to COVID-19, there is no doubt that the pandemic has challenged all of us, both personally and professionally. But I can say with certainty that, as a profession, we have risen to the challenge. It is clear that the emergency response to the pandemic has placed significant pressures on our nursing teams, yet we have enabled change at pace—things that would normally have taken months, or even years, to achieve have been turned around in a matter of weeks or even days.
In Northern Ireland, our nurses have been instrumental in opening the Nightingale Hospital, while our nursing and midwifery students have courageously joined the workforce and nursing colleagues have volunteered to join care-home teams to help some of those who are at greatest risk of this disease.
Be assured that your professionalism and contribution have never been more vital or more valued by those serving at the highest level of government—by your multidisciplinary colleagues and, most importantly, the patients, families and the communities for whom you provide care and services.
It is clear that COVID-19 is exposing and amplifying inequalities across the world. This health issue has huge ramifications for social welfare and public health, and we need to reduce inequalities. As nurses and midwives, we have a significant role to play in addressing the social determinants of health, and in achieving sustainable development goals and building a more equitable and sustainable world for all.
It is a great privilege for my team and myself to have been working with Professor Sir Michael Marmot, Dr Catherine Hannaway and Dr Billy Rosa on developing a guideline for nurses and midwives for health equity: ‘Nurses and midwives: tackling the social determinants of health’ will aim to raise awareness across health and social care systems worldwide, with actions to support and enable nurses and midwives to create the conditions needed to better address the social determinants of health in their everyday work.
The WHO has designated 2020 the International Year of the Nurse and the Midwife, providing an opportunity to celebrate, and raise the profile and reputation of the professions.
What you are doing in nursing and midwifery is amazing. We will look back and we will be proud that we are members of these professions at this most challenging time. To all of you stay safe, stay well, be kind to yourself and be kind to each other.
Happy International Nurses Day.
‘We have a significant role to play in addressing the social determinants of health, and in achieving sustainable development goals and building a more equitable world’
Celebrations on hold as nurses show their extraordinary dedication
At the gate of this year—the International Year of the Nurse—no one could have imagined that as International Nurses Day drew near we would find ourselves in the midst of a global emergency—the COVID-19 pandemic.
Across the UK we had planned both UK-wide celebrations, country-specific, and very local celebrations within wards and departments. This year, which the WHO designated to recognise and promote the value of nursing internationally, was to be one of meetings, celebrations and reflection on how we step forward, building on what we have already achieved to continue to develop nurses' contribution to improving public health and the delivery of health care across all settings.
However, across the country, nurses have swapped celebrations and conferences for visors and gowns. Rather than having events to commemorate how far the profession has come, the profession—true to form—has stepped forward to support the population of the UK by showing extraordinary devotion and professionalism. What greater recognition and acknowledgement of our profession is seeing professionalism in action day in day out.
In Scotland, like the rest of the country, we prepared and were ready for the tsunami. We didn't know how high that wave would be in terms of numbers of patients, ensuing deaths and grieving families and, of course, nothing prepared us for losing colleagues to COVID-19. But we prepared as best we could, learning from other countries, and, in Scotland, because we were a couple of weeks behind England, we learnt from what was happening there too. The generosity of Ruth May (CNO for England) in sharing what was happening in London was extremely helpful to us as we prepared in Scotland.
Across the country many sacrifices were— and continue to be—made. Our student nursing programmes have been altered, with mixed reviews, with many being critical that we have given up what we had fought long and hard to gain: supernumerary status for our students. However, we were preparing for the unknown, preparing to keep our NHS afloat, asking much of our students, our higher education institutions and our clinical areas. We also cancelled our elective work and redirected our health and social care system towards preparing to care for patients affected by COVID-19, at the same time as maintaining social distancing guidelines as much as possible.
However, the paradox of coronavirus is that it has, on the one hand, been extremely destructive, but, on the other, it has been a catalyst for change and brought out the best in people. The use of digital technology has flourished, and we have seen kindness and dedication beyond measure.
On the worst side of this paradox, the virus has led to the death of loved ones (including much-loved colleagues), arguments about whether or not the government has provided healthcare staff with sufficient personal protective equipment (PPE), we have seen an increase in domestic violence, and we are anticipating that health and other inequalities will widen.
So what is required of us now? We need to recognise the crucial and essential roles that nurses play in society. This includes our community nurses, who are providing end-of-life care, as well as caring for people in the shielded group who are now depending on the community nurse to be their conduit for health care; our intensive care nurses, who are dealing with demands and complexity that we rarely see; our nursing academics, who are contributing to finding a way out of the conundrum of lockdown; and, of course, the specialist advice that infection prevention and control nurses have been providing to us has been invaluable, reminding us of the importance of investing in our specialist nursing capacity across all specialties, underpinned by evidence-based practice.
As always, my thanks and gratitude go to all of the nurses across Scotland for all that they do. You are unparalleled in your dedication and professionalism, and indispensable to the people of Scotland.
The bonds of nursing transcend cities, nations and oceans
On International Nurses Day 2020, as Chief Nursing Officer for England, I have never been prouder of our global nursing and midwifery professions.
There has rarely been a time that our international community has had such a strong common ground. We have all been affected by COVID-19 and as nurses, wherever we are, we've fought to protect our patients, our colleagues, our health services and our countries. As a result, people have seen and heard the very best of us: our skills, compassion, commitment and our professionalism on the world stage.
Of course, we began with very different plans for this year's International Nurses Day and the broader International Year of the Nurse and Midwife. We had mapped a campaign to highlight and celebrate nursing and midwifery to showcase the diversity of expertise, skills and people in our professions in 2020. We wanted to improve public perceptions and understanding of what we do, to encourage new people to join us and encourage our best people to stay on board.
The campaign for International Year of the Nurse and Midwife is now on hold while we all rightly focus on tackling this virus.
But, despite the pause in the official campaign, the virus has thrust our professions into the spotlight of international recognition anyway, thanks to the brilliant attitude and fortitude of our workforce.
Across the globe we have made professional and personal sacrifices to help millions of people. Tragically some of our colleagues have lost their lives. Any loss is a loss too many—and every death affects all of us personally and profoundly. In time, we will all want to take more time to remember our colleagues who have passed away during this global pandemic.
Given this is a global health emergency, we have been keen to learn from our international colleagues who have been ahead of the UK in dealing with COVID-19. From our conversations with colleagues in China and Italy to nationwide mutual aid, the pandemic has highlighted that the bonds of nursing transcend cities, nations and oceans. And, as we look forward, we will seek to strengthen these bonds.
On International Nurses Day this year, it is especially important to remember the values that leaders such as Florence Nightingale and Mary Seacole established for our professions. These are about improving our skills, our working conditions and sharing our knowledge to help each other.
We still have demanding times ahead. We need to make sure that we take care of our people, and that we all look out for one another. I pay heartfelt thanks and respect to all of our global community for the extraordinary work that you do today and every day. I hope you can all find time to do the same for yourselves.
‘The virus has thrust our professions into the spotlight of international recognition, thanks to the brilliant attitude and fortitude of our workforce’