Nurses are the under-appreciated heroes of this crisis. Without them, the pandemic crisis would have resulted as way worse.
The routine of nurses has changed, and has quickly become the norm. Treating patients with COVID-19 is very hard. They are not only dealing with the virus, but also with the psychological impact that it has on patients and their families. Nurses are playing a key role in responding to the disease, as frontline healthcare workers, as well as care givers at home. Moreover, they also have the highest risk to be infected
All medical staff at the hospital are working longer hours, but the nurses are the real heroes. They carry out the most difficult tasks and most of the workload. Nurses, most of whom are women, are the greatest workers, working endless shifts with special protective equipment on, which is very heavy to keep on for an entire working day. Their work never ends, from making up the beds of patients, to performing therapies, taking tests and filling in documents. people should be more grateful of having them.
This situation in Lebanon began with a severe financial crisis, which forced many nurses to work without pay, in unsafe working environments and taking unpaid vacations. COVID-19 really put nurses under a big pressure. In fact, after many discussions and meetings with the government, the nurses of Lebanon, with the support of other health professionals, had planned a strike in order to fight for their rights, for the first time in history.
Nurses do not think about themselves, but about their patients. Lebanese nurses, especially, have one characteristic which may not be found in other people, which is resilience. They were born in the war. They have been living in one for 40 years and this has given them a lot of resilience, compared to other states.
What They need, more than vacations and pay, is help with finances. The healthcare system in Lebanon lacks of funds. What nurses use in one night, is what other countries use in two months of Covid. Lebanon lacks proper healthcare structures, bandages, everything that is used in casualties, like needles, syringes and antibiotics.
Nurses really deserve the title of hero. Their determination in nursing, sacrificing, continuing, being at war during an economic crisis and pandemic. They are everywhere at all times, whenever people need them. They are the backbone of every healthcare system in the whole world. With Covid-19, they were forced to give up on their freedom and economic prosperity. They became too busy to see their dears and to get their well-deserved rest.
What Lebanon needs are politicians to come together to support the healthcare system, but practically through financial investments without expected returning costs from their people. Nurses and health workers are the ones holding the society and the communities together, making people feel safe and healthy, and they should be rewarded as heroes.