HealthWay Recognizes Nurses as Heroes

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HealthWay Recognizes Nurses as Heroes

HeathWay Recognizes Nurses as Heroes

HealthWay Recognizes Nurses as Heroes

Being a nurse during a global pandemic – will we ever fully understand what these tenacious humans went through? Although there are many heroes of this world, to celebrate National Nurses Month, we would like to focus on the nurses who put their patients first day in and day out.

The everyday duties of a nurse, at the least, include providing medical counseling, conducting physical exams, and taking detailed health care notes, but this rapidly multiplied with incredibly taxing duties as time in the pandemic progressed. In addition to all their inundated job duties, they went above and beyond to make the patients feel comfortable without their family members beside them.

As healthcare centers began to restrict family members and loved ones to enter their facilities to be with the patient, nurses became their companions throughout their medical journey. Not only did these passionate healthcare workers tend to medical needs, but they also kept company the lonesome and distressed patients. Many nurses helped their elder patients make video and audio calls to their worried family members and spouses. Although weary, as they too missed their families, these men and women did not quit. Their ubiquitous influence has inspired the next generation of nurses to follow their lead at the front line of the healthcare industry.

A New World for Many

Medical-surgical units and many other specialty floors were transitioned into COVID-19 intensive-care units to try and get the critically ill COVID patients taken care of. Nurses and other healthcare workers in other specialized departments were thrown into crash courses on “how to be a critical-care support nurse.”

During the rapidly moving global pandemic, the unknown was simply terrifying to many but the urgency of care needed didn’t allow the uncertainty to settle in with them. Elective surgeries were canceled with no rescheduled dates, as no one knew when the chaos of COVID-19 would conclude, or even simmer down. As it seemed for everything to be falling apart, nurses were there to care for and comfort their patients.

Airborne Disease

Loaded up with personal protective equipment (PPE) to prevent the spread, doctors, nurses, physical therapists, and respiratory therapists were unrecognizable. These healthcare heroes were writing their names on their scrubs and masks so that their teammates knew who they were, and what they specialized in. They worked together to treat every single patient in need, while still learning the ropes of a different specialty and floor.

When the CDC found that the COVID-19 virus was airborne, hospitals and medical facilities were extremely eager to find solutions that provide adequate protection to their staff and patients. They cleaned every surface which could be contaminated, remained wearing masks at all times, attempted to “spread out” when possible, and invested in air purification units to remove the virus from the air. Air purification for healthcare facilities is almost as essential as their employees. Disinfecting Filtration Systems, or DFS technology exclusive with HealthWay, removes ultrafine particles, such as viruses, from the air and keeps them out.

How Did They Get Through It?

What kept them motivated to keep powering forward? Possibly the moment when they discharged their patients to be reunited with their cheerful families, or the light at the end of the tunnel that they searched for daily. Some characteristics of a nurse can include empathy, compassion, and commitment – with these qualities, nurses saved as many lives as they could, returning them safely back to their families. Nurses have been demonstrating resilience for hundreds of years, and they will not give up now, as we begin to see a decrease in COVID-19 cases.

With all the devastation of the pandemic, anxiety, depression, and overall defeat fell upon the shoulders of nursing staffs across the world. Many nurses admitted, that without the support of their fellow teammates, they would not have survived the stress of their reliant positions.

To every nurse who has been a front-line warrior of the pandemic, who has healed soldiers in battle, who has helped a child in distress, and who is still a student preparing to fill these shoes, we thank you. A quote from Rachel Bresilla, a nurse from Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, “The year 2020 undoubtedly marked us all in a unique, defining way. For me, it’s the year I silenced fear, rose to the challenge, persevered, and embodied the year of the nurse.”