Nurses in the Fight Against COVID-19: What Has and Can Be Done

There is no possible way of understating the role that nurses have been playing in the management of the coronavirus and its effects. With drastically increased workload and shift length, nurses have been on the frontline of providing assistance to patients with COVID-19, risking their own lives and providing support for patients consistently and unwaveringly. Therefore, the produced work is worth appreciation both from the perspective of evidence-based research and from the position of nursing ethics. By accepting my responsibility as a nurse, taking extra shifts and applying an ethical approach toward the management of the pandemic while also promoting cross-disciplinary cooperation, research, and patient education, I have managed to offer assistance to a range of patients.

The promotion of patient education is the first step toward reducing the impact of the pandemic and minimizing its further threat. Namely, the role of immunization in preventing people from contracting the virus must be constantly emphasized, which can be done with the help of social networks to embrace a larger audience. When my unit was turned into one for patients with COVID-19, I had to adjust quickly by building collaboration and communicating actively with my colleagues. Therefore, a campaign aimed at demonstrating that the assumptions in question are entirely false is needed, which is a crucial task for nurse educators.

Moreover, the role of ethics in the prevention of coronavirus contraction must be communicated to nurses so that they could approach each case responsibly. For instance, as a nurse, I had to take extra shifts in order to assist both my colleagues, who suffered exhaustion and patients, who needed active healthcare support. Finally, evidence-based research (EBR) combined with evidence-based practice (EBP), as well as cross-disciplinary collaboration as a boost for EBP and EBR promotion, has proven to have a tremendous effect in my unit and, therefore, should be actively endorsed in the nursing and clinical contexts. Thus, current cases of coronavirus will be addressed more effectively as new information about the management of the problem emerges. Moreover, the focus on research and its connection to practice will spur innovative solutions to handling Covid-19 patients’ needs.

Understandably, the suggested framework is likely to cause numerous disagreements among the nursing staff members. Specifically, the increase in the amount of workload and the length of shifts are bound to become a contentious discussion point. Indeed, studies have shown that, due to the rapid and uncontrollable rise in the number of patients and, as a result, the amount of work for nurses, an increase in workplace burnout rates has been observed in the nursing staff (Ross, 2020). Apart from rendering the performance of nurses mediocre, at best, workplace burnout has led to mental health issues, such as anxiety and even depression in the nursing staff. Applying a personal perspective will require mentioning that, as a nurse, it was necessary for me to take extra shifts and increase the pace of my performance.

With the help of an ethical approach based on responsibility and the understanding of patients’ needs, as well as the emphasis on research in the cross-disciplinary setting and active patient education, nurses will be able to introduce the framework that will help beat the pandemic. Although the fight against the virus is far from being over, mostly due to its constant mutations and the resulting need to think ahead in developing the vaccine, the proposed framework combined with strong work ethics and the readiness to accept extra workload will lead to beating the disease.

Reference

Ross, J. (2020). The exacerbation of burnout during COVID-19: A major concern for nurse safety. Journal of Perianesthesia Nursing, 35(4), 439-440. Web.