12th May 2021 is this year’s International Nurses Day – we dedicate this to all of our wonderful Nurses.
Written by TFS Healthcare’s clinical team.
Our team at TFS Healthcare want to take this opportunity to remind you how much we value you and that we are thinking about you, always. We know that each day you go into to work to meet the unknown. The wards are changing. Your colleagues are changing. Some of you have been exposed and placed at risk of Covid 19. Some of you have lost loved ones, colleagues, and friends to this dreadful pandemic. However, you still get up, dress up, and show up for work daily.
No two patients are ever treated the same, nurses ensure that each patient is made to feel important. Nurses are so passionate about what they do that they often forget about their own needs. They’re even willing to skip breaks and lunch just to ensure all their patients are cared for.
You have a duty of care, yet you were not prepared. Being told at times ‘we do not have the resources and the equipment’ to do your job properly.
We know that some of you spend days crying at home, on the way to work and even at work. Getting into work knowing you are putting out your best efforts, yet not being acknowledged as a ‘real’ member of staff. Being forced to go to the wards that are labelled as the ‘Covid wards’, and if you refuse because of valid reasons, you are labelled as ‘not being a team player’, ‘not being supportive’, ‘I will send a complaint to your agency’ and ‘even restrict you’.
TFS Healthcare want you to know that we value your services and your strengths. You are being on the frontline, working on the wards, being the eyes and ears of family members who were not allowed to visit is an amazing skill.
Can you relate to taking a loved one to the hospital and leaving them at the door, unable to locate them afterwards, they pass away and its days before you find out? This is how most of the patients and relates on the wards feel daily. Some of you might have used your own personal devices to launch video calls. Some might say that is against trust policies but that was the only way you could get families connected throughout this pandemic.
As Nurses/HCAs one of the hardest thing is the lack of positive physical contact. Just a simple touch of an arm or the holding of a hand can provide so much comfort, which we are told to no longer do. Throughout your careers you have built a close rapport with your patients and their families, so having to adjust to doing things in a different way has been hard.
Some of you have sat by patient’s bedside holding their hands, watching them take that last breath knowing they did not have to die alone. And being able to handover to a relative, it was a peaceful death. It has been and continues to be very agonising for you and many families and friends have not been able to say goodbye to a loved one.
Most of you have never received a thank you from your colleagues/managers or even a compliment. Each day it was about, the “you are late”, “too many staffs off sick, or isolating”, ‘you are refusing to change wards’, ‘you have an attitude’, ‘your technique is wrong’, ‘you didn’t sign a drug chart’. All of which are very important with regards to policies, guidelines, and good quality care for patients. But please do not allow this to get you down, to cause you to question your professionalism, or even cause you to lose your passion. Never forget you are an equal member of staff, and your contribution is just as valid. You are nurses first, ‘agency’ is your way of employment, not who you are.
Now we use the term “the new normal”. Yet there has been nothing ‘normal’ about the recent weeks and months, there has been no such thing as ‘core’ working hours, or weekends. Some of you work shift systems, early, late, nights and others long days. Sometimes even no breaks. In fact, some of you use your break to cover other nurses/staffs. Your patient caseloads have doubled and so have your efforts.
Many of you are worrying about COVID-19, and you have all right to be. Even our Government is struggling to cope with the day-to-day changes. You are the ones going out daily. Your children, mothers, fathers, partners, grandparents, and husbands remain at home. You are worrying everyday if you are going to bring Covid into your own homes.
April 2020 was a particularly difficult month, with the equivalent of a death a day for patients under your care. The patients that died, deteriorated very quickly and with little warning, so often by the time you saw them they were entering the last days of their life. It is really tough emotionally. At times you question yourselves, wondering whether, because of the enforced alterations to your care, you might have not been able to notice the more subtle changes and gradual decline in patients. You cannot understate how tough this has been. But through it all ‘together you are caring’.
Since the pandemic we have learnt to tap into skills some of us never thought we had. On a whole, the experience over the last few months has taken its toll on our employees, emotionally and physically. We at TFS will continue as always to support our staff. This situation has made us realise how resilient we are, but at the same time realise when that resilience is being tested. Our employees have been pushed to their limits and we want you to know, we are thinking about you daily.
It is with pride that TFS Healthcare can confidently say that your abilities to deal with everything being thrown at you and still return the next day, or night, to do it all over again. Our patients depend on our nurses’ conviction, no matter the circumstances, to treat them every day with your clinical excellence but also to deliver that care with compassion.
As an organisation TF Healthcare stands behind you, support you and is willing to offer you that space to have a chat with either your consultants or our clinical team.
We want to say thank you all for your efforts. Thank you for working so hard during this pandemic. We appreciate that you are risking your health to care for the patients, and we applaud you.
Happy International Nurses Day to all of our wonderful nurses.
Damahlie Andrew, Mental Health Clinical Lead
Experience tells us talented people know other talented people, so we would love for you to take advantage of this offer. We are actively looking to recruit skilled nurses so, why not recommend a friend or colleague! We’ll reward you with £250 for Nurses once they have completed 250 hours and £100 for HCAs once they have completed 100 hours. PS – there is no limit to the number of people you can refer (T&Cs apply). Email referrals@tfshealthcare.co.uk.