The Pandemic and The Nurse

GHS Co-Founder and GP, Dr Kalpa Sundar reflects on the role of the Nurse in 2020 – the year of a global pandemic.

International Year of the Nurse and Midwife 200 years since the birth anniversary of Florence Nightingale, a full year and more since the pandemic invaded the world. When the International Council of Nurses declared 2020 as the International Year of Nursing, it couldn’t have been better timed. The year has put the community of nurses all over the globe under the spotlight. Together, they have emerged as heroes of this historic year. From Hubei to Hawaii, their depth of involvement in caring, their fearless work in quarantine stations, dedication in critical care units, handling infectious samples of sputum, holding hands with the dying in the community, they have been our front-line heroes.

Moving ahead, the success of mass Covid vaccination will depend on the dedication of healthcare professionals, particularly nurses.

As the national lock down comes to an end, in the UK our NHS nurses take a deep breath to deliver again. Once again, the nurses are back wrestling the balance between keeping critically vulnerable in the community safe and supporting their emotional and family needs. They often are the ones to hold the patient’s hands as no one else can. Nurses have embraced technology, adapted to digital consultation and use videos for communication. They continue to deal with staff shortages without a grumble.

It is time for them to be kind to themselves. The NMC now has a strategy in the UK for principles of Nursing during the Covid Pandemic with regular updates.

At GHS, we are a step ahead, embracing digital training, online portals and adopting technology in the recruitment and placement of Nurses and Healthcare providers in the UK. We continue to actively recruit and train during the pandemic.  We, as a team, erase boundaries and have made health caring truly global by digitalisation. Care is indeed beyond borders. Together, we are stronger as we enter 2021.