Mar 21, 2023

Coping with Covid-19 as a nurse: the importance of self-compassion Pressure Post Vid

Updated: Dec 21, 2023

Coping with Covid-19 as a nurse: the importance of self-compassion

How Covid has affected nursing in general

Nursing has long since been regarded as one of the most trusted professions in the world. With much training as a nurse to help save lives and provide high-quality patient care and their families.

The recent pandemic has impacted nursing in ways that cannot be completely understood, as the after-effects are still being felt over two years later.

Highlight hard work

The pandemic put a spotlight on nurses, and overnight they became at the forefront of the minds of millions as the situation of Covid-19 unfolded. The news suddenly filled with images of nurses caring for incredibly sick patients covered in facial injuries from wearing masks for long periods. These images showed the world the sacrifices nurses were making daily to help save the lives of our beloved family members.

The pandemic brought the struggles of the nursing profession into the public eye. Long before Covid 19, nurses faced challenging situations, constantly wondering if they were doing a good enough job and striving to provide constant high-quality care in stretched staffing conditions.

The pandemic has also meant that nurses have had to be more resourceful than ever, often at the expense of their health, to help fill the gaps in staffing and changing departments at a moment's notice. All while trying to maintain a sense of a home and work-life balance.

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on healthcare workers, particularly nurses. How have our brave nurses coped with their mental health post-Vid

I haven't noticed any changes in my mental health
A bit stressed
Overwhelmed
Write an answer

Flexible

Throughout the pandemic, nurses showed time and time again how flexible they are, transferring critical skills to other departments they had little experience or training.

Covid 19 also posed problems as it was a vast unknown at the beginning of the pandemic; nurses constantly had to change how they treated patients with the condition as more research was being conducted.

One of the most complex changes nurses faced was seeing critically ill patients alone in their beds, without loved ones by their sides during their last moments due to the Covid restrictions.

Nurses frequently went the extra mile for their patients between busy ward duties, helping them make phone and video calls home, sometimes for the last time.

Reflection

Throughout the stress and pressures of the pandemic, nurses had not disappointed the public. Still, they stepped up when no one else could and made sure to give the best care to their patients, even when they were concerned for their loved ones and worried about taking Covid 19 home to their own families.

Many nurses, although impacted permanently by the struggles of the pandemic, are proud to be part of the profession that has supported and cared for vast numbers of critically ill patients around the globe.

As nursing begins its recovery from the hardest of times, new nurses are training and starting to renew the passion for high-quality care that had been somewhat lost in the fight for survival over the last two years.