On International Nurses Day 2020, the Heart and Stroke Foundation South Africa celebrates the true value of nurses to the people of the world.
Also read: A tribute to SA health-care workers and all South Africans
Each year, the International Council of Nursing (ICN), leads the celebration for International Nurses Day, which is traditionally held on May 12, the date also has a strong significance being the birthday of perhaps the world’s most famous nurse, Florence Nightingale.
In the same year as the world fights a war against one of the most destructive pandemics, we also also commemorate the 200th birthday of Nightingale.
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The International Council of Nursing’s theme for International Nurses Day 2020 is Nurses: A Voice to Lead – Nursing the World to Health.
The theme for 2020 demonstrates how nurses are central to addressing a wide range of health challenges.
To all the nurses in South Africa and around the world! #InternationalNursesDay2020 @TuksFM1072 pic.twitter.com/7Ahi1ddN21
— Tuks FM 107.2 News (@TuksFMNews) May 12, 2020
It will encourage nurses and the public to celebrate the big day, but also to provide information and resources that will help to raise the profile of the profession throughout the year and attract a new generation into the nursing family.
The latest Covid-19 statistics show thousands of confirmed cases and deaths worldwide as of December 2019.
These sobering numbers, with 4.18 million confirmed cases of Covid-19 and 286 000 deaths worldwide, have led numerous countries to implement measures such as social distancing and mandatory quarantine to flatten the curve of Covid-19 before they overwhelm the healthcare system.
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As hospitals worldwide buckle under the influx of cases of Covid-19, nurses work long and exhausting hours trying to save lives.
This crisis has shone light on the high demand for nurses and the critical role they have within the healthcare system of each country.
The Covid-19 pandemic is testing everyone, but nurses and other healthcare workers are on the frontlines, and the pandemic only highlights and elevates the central role that nurses serve in healthcare.
According to the American Heart Association caution should be encouraged for elderly people with coronary disease, hypertension, diabetes or people who have suffered a stroke, as they are more likely to be affected by Covid-19 and may face a higher risk of complications from Covid-19.
Nurses and other medical staff will be doing their utmost to care for these patients, whilst being at a greater risk of exposure to Covid-19.
Covid-19 prevalence highlights the need for trained nurses to care for patients and educate the public about slowing the spread of the virus along with leading efforts to make the hospitals safer for all healthcare professionals.
Nurses treat patients of all ages and high-risk population groups, such as people living with diabetes, hypertension, severe obesity and heart and stroke disease.
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The nursing workforce consists of clinical skills, such as taking medical histories, vital signs and performing tests, along with educating patients on achieving and maintaining good health.
The role of nurses’ centres on administering medication, educating patients about nutrition, promoting a healthy lifestyle and exercise.
They also work as part of multidisciplinary care teams to perform CPR and formulate plans of action in trauma situations and ensure patients become stabilised and are comfortable.
The Covid-19 outbreak and other health emergencies significantly heighten the effects of the shortage of the nursing workforce.
Some startling statistics also show that even without a pandemic adding just one patient to a nurse’s workload causes a seven per cent increase in patient mortality.
Since the pandemic, many healthcare workers have contracted the virus.
As the number of confirmed Covid-19 cases accelerate, nurses on the frontline of healthcare have found themselves in unprecedented positions making high stake decisions for patients and their own personal lives.
It is a time of great stress and uncertainty and nurses are rising to the challenge.
All around the world, nurses are working tirelessly to provide the care and attention people need, whenever and where ever they need it.
International Nurses Day is for all to celebrate the unique role nurses play in working with people from birth to death, as well as to highlight the fact that nurses should be celebrated throughout the year as they are central to the delivery of healthcare.
Florence Nightingale
Nightingale was the first person to turn the nursing profession into an organised sector with standardised roles and responsibilities.
In 1854, she took 38 volunteer nurses to care for soldiers during the Crimean War. Prior to that nurses were mostly untrained family members of soldiers who provided care.
Nursing, washing your hands and evidence based-healthcare, pioneered by Nightingale, have become more important than ever before.
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