Issues and Trends in Nursing
Miss Cookie
pandemic-1.pptm
Nursing during a pandemic
Matthew Nodal
Preparedness
In infectious illnesses, the unpredictability of pandemic outbreaks (agents, time, and location) is a given.
Nursing knowledge and skills gaps in screening, illness detection, quick response, community participation, inter- and intra-agency communication, governmental notification, and coordination do not have to be obstacles to appropriate and timely responses.
A key gap in our capacity to control new infections is the inability to create a coordinated system of health care professionals who appreciate the necessity of recognizing and disseminating information about the diagnosis of a disease.
Covid-19
Covid-19 started early 2020 in like March as the new pandemic of this century.
It originated I Wuhan, China and spread like wildfire in a matter of weeks and months. Before you knew it the world had been in a lock down.
It is a virus that attacks the respiratory system and can present itself asymptomatic or with some flu-like symptoms.
consequences
This pandemic showed how unprepared we were to handle this, and it showed on our nurses through out the country.
Due to not knowing about the virus extreme measures had to be taken to prevent the spread.
This led to nurses being burnt and overworked, precaution steps to enter their own home, and extra hours at work.
How covid-19 has affected nursing
The profession itself has exploded in this last year, due to the high demand of nurses and travel nursing paying well, also currently nurses not wanting to get vaccinated are being fired.
As a nursing student myself COVID-19 has diminished the nursing school experience. Virtual learning is not for everyone, and it also hindered the amount of actual clinical hours we got.
At the same time hospitals are resulting to hiring just about anyone no matter if recently graduated because there is such a need for nurses, which I guess is a positive.
How this will influence my role
I want to say that I am prepared to work in a hospital, but the fact is that I don’t think any of us new graduates are prepared to tackle the amount of work ahead of us.
Depending on the census of the hospital, the ratio of patients to nurses is bound to change. I have to be prepared to give efficient care to maybe 6 patients at a time.
COVID-19 has probably steered some people away from the profession, but I think that if I can handle this obstacke than it will just make me that much better of a nurse.
How I will ask for funding
I think that it is more evident than ever that nurses are being overworked and in poor conditions.
I would ask to raise their base pay or offer bonuses to give incentive for the nurses to stay at their hospitals so that our hospitals aren’t left with no nurses.
I also think that if the public sees that our nurses are happy with their work environment and conditions that they are more inclined to be at ease if they go to the hospital.
Relevance
I think that things have improved from when COVID-19 began to where we are currently.
That doesn’t mean that things are still not bad, the virus is still spreading, and facilities are in need for nurses.
This career is a very rewarding, and I want to help as many people as I can, but I’m not looking forward to being overworked nor looked at as work horse with out a second thought.
Reference
Corless, I. B., Nardi, D., Milstead, J. A., Larson, E., Nokes, K. M., Orsega, S., Kurth, A. E., Kirksey, K. M., & Woith, W. (2018). Expanding Nursing's role in responding to global pandemics 5/14/2018. Nursing outlook. Retrieved October 18, 2021, from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7118451/.
Stangeland, P. A. (2010, December). Disaster nursing: A retrospective review. Critical care nursing clinics of North America. Retrieved October 18, 2021, from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7135108/.
FEMA's natural disaster preparedness and response efforts during the coronavirus pandemic. FEMA.gov. (n.d.). Retrieved October 18, 2021, from https://www.fema.gov/fact-sheet/femas-natural-disaster-preparedness-and-response-efforts-during-coronavirus-pandemic.
Talaee, N., Varahram, M., Jamaati, H., Salimi, A., Attarchi, M., Kazempour Dizaji, M., Sadr, M., Hassani, S., Farzanegan, B., Monjazebi, F., & Seyedmehdi, S. M. (2020, June 6). Stress and burnout in health care workers during COVID-19 pandemic: Validation of a questionnaire. Zeitschrift fur Gesundheitswissenschaften = Journal of public health. Retrieved October 18, 2021, from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7275852/.
Lagasse, J. (n.d.). Healthcare Workers Experiencing Burnout, stress due to covid-19 pandemic. Healthcare Finance News. Retrieved October 18, 2021, from https://www.healthcarefinancenews.com/news/healthcare-workers-experiencing-burnout-stress-due-covid-19-pandemic.
