The COVID-19 pandemic has transformed the world by affecting living traditions, politics, health, and the economy. The health industry has been hit the hardest as the pandemic is unpredictable. Nurses at the front line were confident they were ready to deal with COVID-19. However, the risk of fatigue, psychological distress, and stigmatization increased as the pandemic grew. Moreover, psychological and emotional suffering increased due to the high percentage of patient deaths. It shows that the nursing profession was not well-prepared in its emergency response to the coronavirus pandemic.
Most of the people who were infected went to medical facilities to seek treatment. The hospitals were overwhelmed, especially when critical conditions started to rise. The resilience of the hospitals depended on the preparedness of the nurses. Nurses were responsible for identifying new infections, attending to those in critical conditions, coordinating with other healthcare providers, and consoling relatives (Marshall et al., 2021). However, the nurses lacked the skills and knowledge to manage crises involving isolation, treatment, palliative care, and triaging (Marshall et al., 2021). In addition, most nurses were afraid to go to work because of insufficient protective equipment and the high death rate caused by coronavirus infections.
The severity of the COViD-19 pandemic was that few competent nurses offered total patient care to those in intensive care units or isolated. Thus, the area that could have been improved is increasing coronavirus staffing. All experts, including staff and retired nurses with essential skills and knowledge, should have been called to care for people infected with coronavirus (Marshall et al., 2021). It would have allowed hospitals to take more patients and reduce the number of deaths.
Finally, such a pandemic will require a disaster plan to guide nurses during, before, and after a health-related crisis. More research is needed to determine nurses’ experiences and their preparedness for a pandemic crisis. Since nurses are the largest healthcare group, they must be provided with essential protective equipment to safeguard their lives and those in their care.
Reference
Marshall, V. K., Chavez, M., Mason, T. M., & Martinez-Tyson, D. (2021). Emergency preparedness during the COVID‐19 pandemic: Perceptions of oncology professionals and implications for nursing management from a qualitative study. J Nurs Manag, 29(6), 1375-1384. Web.