22 NURSING STARS
Shining a light on our nursing stars
Last summer Nursing in Practice started a campaign
to highlight the work of our amazing readers – practice and community nurses , and midwives – during the Covid-19 pandemic .
We wanted to shout about the work they were doing , going above and beyond in highly challenging circumstances . Healthcare leaders from the Health Creation Alliance network ( formally New NHS Alliance ) agreed with us and became our campaign partner .
The year 2020 was the World Health Organization Year of the Nurse and Midwife , but many of the events had to be cancelled . NHS England also withdrew its planned celebrations to focus on tackling the coronavirus pandemic .
Nursing in Practice decided that it was necessary – more than ever – to recognise the work of nurses and midwives and give them a space to talk about their experiences during the crisis .
Through inspiring stories on our running blog page and Q & As with nurses and midwives , we have learned much about how our readers have managed to keep services afloat and deal with unbelievable workloads .
Early on in the pandemic , practice nurses suddenly had to get to grips with new ways of working , fast-tracking the use of technology to keep services going .
Community nurses were working extremely long hours to deal with increased workloads , and some were redeployed into roles they had no previous experience of .
Midwives were doing their already hot and exhausting work in PPE , while helping calm the nerves of parents who were more anxious than normal on the delivery wards . More recently , practices have made herculean efforts to ensure the Government ’ s expanded flu programme was kept on track . Now , with the Covid-19 vaccine effort , they are finding ways to manage this extra workload while ensuring other vital services are not interrupted .
Nursing in Practice editor Emily Twinch said : ‘ Nurses work hard with dedication at the best of times . But last year we saw them make extraordinary efforts and they continue to do so .
‘ We have heard incredible stories of nurses managing to remain caring and compassionate as they keep services running while working under huge pressure .
‘ Much of this work they must do face to face , thereby risking their lives . We must applaud their efforts and we hope our Nursing Stars campaign has gone some way to doing that .’
Merron Simpson , chief executive of the Health Creation Alliance , said : ‘ We are delighted to support Nursing Stars in recognising the passion , commitment , grit and determination that primary care nurses have shown throughout the coronavirus pandemic . As we said at the beginning of the initiative , you are there before life , you are there at the end of life and you are there at every stage in between . Our support for Nursing Stars is but a small way for us to say thank you for everything you do .’
On the following pages we are publishing extracts from the Q & As with nurses and midwives we have run online so far .
Online
Go online to see more of the campaign bit . ly / 3blogZI nursinginpractice . com Winter 2021