Learning from the past to achieve the longer term

My life and career as a nurse has taught me that sometimes you might have to look within the rearview mirror to see where we now have been as a way to truly appreciate where we’re getting in the longer term. 2021 was a difficult 12 months for a lot of reasons, but we persevered and learned some precious lessons along the way in which.

1. As the pandemic raged internationally, burnout and exhaustion increased. It is obvious that healthcare organizations need to appreciate that the workforce is their best asset and so they must support resilience to maintain healthcare staff on the bedside. They must address staffing issues, ensure a secure working environment and supply support to doctors who’re physically and emotionally exhausted, have suffered moral injury and have mental health problems.
2. The first step to addressing resilience is to fulfill the necessity for expert, competent staff and ensure a secure work environment. Nurses want to supply high-quality, evidence-based care, but they can not achieve this without the suitable staff. Healthcare organizations must find creative ways to retain talent, bring latest nurses into the organization, develop flexible care models, and create trained teams to make sure flexibility and efficiency in patient care.
3. Recognize and address health equity, diversity and inclusion to enhance the health of all people and their communities. These will not be latest issues; these have been amplified by the pandemic. Health care organizations and academia must recognize that equitable and nonjudgmental care is crucial to enhance individual and community health outcomes.
4. . The first step is to extend the variety of full-time, part-time faculty and support staff and pay them what they’re value. Develop academic/practice partnerships, advance nurse practice and residency programs, and increase the variety of clinical sites to supply practice-ready nurses. Use simulation and technological advances to teach students and practicing nurses about advances in health care standards. Reach out to people making profession decisions to think about nursing as a profession.
5. Since the start of 2020, COVID-19 has been a taboo topic and there was lots of misinformation. The only technique to address misinformation about Covid-19 and vaccines is to make use of science as the premise for discussion and interaction. COVID-19 is a public health problem; leave politics out of the equation. We are probably the most trusted career and it’s our skilled responsibility to inform the reality based on evidence.

Finally, nursing is a career that strives to supply evidence-based, high-quality, non-judgmental care to all people, no matter their beliefs.