This day is especially emotional as the focus is on nurses and health workers, who are on the frontline of the response to COVID-19 across the world. They are the real heroes who risk their lives to save the millions affected by COVID-19. They play a major role in providing high-quality, respectful treatment and care, and leading community dialogue to address fears and questions.
We all depend on the resilience of nurses and their ability to deal with everything thrown at them and still return the next day, or night, to do it all over again. We depend on nurses’ conviction to treat us with their clinical excellence every day, irrespective of the circumstances, but also to render that care with compassion.
The lessons of Florence Nightingale’s nursing practice during the Crimean War are still being applied today during the COVID-19 pandemic: practicing basic hand washing, maintaining standards of cleanliness, learning from the data, and more.
Today is International Nurses Day. It is a day that always deserves to be celebrated, but now carries extra significance and meaning as nurses continue to serve on the frontline of the COVID-19 pandemic. The dedication they show towards their job is marvellous and praiseworthy. Nursing is not an easy job and those who dedicate their whole lives to serve in this profession must be respected and celebrated.