Editorial

As nurses we are currently being called upon to be increasingly adaptable, change is occurring at a far greater speed and pace than many of us have ever experienced before. The Covid-19 pandemic has continued to tear us between our sense of professional invincibility and fear. Fear for our families and loved ones, fear of being unwell ourselves, as well as fear of the uncertainty and challenges ahead. In Australia our journey has been very similar to New Zealand with both countries successfully flattening the curve of cases. However, we know that it has not been like this in many other countries that have faces spiralling numbers of cases and insumountable conditions. Our guest editorial does bring back some of the fear and uncertainty that I have faced over the last few months, but mostly it reminds me of the sacrifices that we have all made.

As neuroscience specialists many of us selected our area of practice or for others it selected us. Regardless of where we work, we work with passion, we are flexible and accept the challenges of priorities and we respond when faced with a crisis. Adaptability is something that we all bring to nursing, we pride ourselves with our ability to anticipate, respond and manage change. Echoing New Zealand’s leaders words as nurses our ability to be calm has been praised internationally. Covid-19 however has moved all of us to the unknown, we are all having to change our practices and the way that we deliver care, we are faced with having to provide comfort and care without touch and while physically distanced. I have lost count of the number of hands I have held in times of need and times of passing, the children and adults that I have held and comforted after and during procedures. To not be able to do this action that is so naturally part of our work as nurses is perhaps for me one of the greatest Covid challenges. Like many of you I have at times worn a mask during procedures, however learning to communicate for entire 8 hour shifts, trying to use my eyes to maximise my facial expressions has been an exhausting challenge. Added to this is the fear and uncertainty that all the added personal protective equipment causes for our patients. Life in our hospitals changed almost overnight. During the height of the pandemic I experienced this first hand as a patient, having been rushed into emergency and then surgery, I could not have any visitors, in fact my husband was not even allowed to come and collect my wedding ring. Its funny the things you stress over, the security and storge of my ring caused more anxiety than the impending surgery. Then the morning after the reality of no visitors hit me. I had my phone and access to the internet and social media, but it was no substitute for my family and loved ones. At this point I began to really worry about others that did not have access to phones and technology and wonder how if I was lonely, how were they feeling.

Patience is an innate skill that we bring to nursing, we are often there during the most distressing and confronting times of people’s lives. We are the rock and stable feature during an admission and help individuals overcome their fear and anxiety. However, we are facing perhaps the biggest test of our patience and it is from a disease with no boundaries and no rules. The uncertainty of how long the pandemic will continue for is testing every healthcare worker as we are faced with the daily challenge of shifting goal posts in regard to lockdown and restrictions. It is as if every task is just made that little bit harder and despite being intuitive thinkers we can’t always find solutions to our problems. Our patience was also tested by how quickly the situation around us was changing. Like in New Zealand the guidelines and rules were changing almost hourly and this was compounded by the ongoing shortages of equipment and fear of not having enough resources to care.

We all need to work collaboratively, if we are going to continue to lead the battle against Covid-19. We need to care for ourselves and each other. Stamina is not an infinite resource, it can be eroded especially as the weeks become months and potentially years. We are prided as being disciplined and invincible, but the public despite their cheers, well wishes and donations towards our coffee funds sometimes forget that we are human. We are not always the superhero's. Like the rest of society, we are tired, uncertain and scared for the future. We have like the rest of the world had events and holidays cancelled and we are not immune to fear and uncertainty. We were told that as a society our job was to stay at home, but as nurses we couldn’t, we like many other professions had to go to work. Surviving on comradery and at times a mix of resilience and adrenaline. I look back and wonder where I found the energy to administer thousands of flu vaccinations while donned up in full personal protective equipment. Working for hours without a drink or food in fear of touching my mask or eyes. But my story is your story and we have survived because we have been able to work collaboratively.

What is clear is that we are facing a pandemic with unprecedented persistence and it is more than likely that the transition to a new normality will include the daily presence of Covid-19. This is going to place the adaptability, patience and skills of every nurse to the test as our short-term strategic plans and interventions become the new normal. It is important that we do look forward, there are going to be a lot of new ‘news’ as we learn to live with second and third waves of cases, but we have to continue to care for ourselves and each other. So I encourage you all to talk, take care of yourself and take leave when you need to, while we many only have a few months left in 2020, the International Year of the Nurse, we still have a long road ahead in our battle against Covid-19.