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2020 Year of the Nurse and Midwife: Tributes to a noble profession
Author: FMHS Marketing & Communication / FGGW Bemarking & Kommunikasie – Sue Segar
Published: 06/11/2020

​When the World Health Organisation (WHO) designated 2020 as the 'International Year of the Nurse and the Midwife', it envisaged a year-long effort to celebrate the work of nurses and midwives, to focus on the challenges they face globally and to promote more investment in those sectors. 

As it turned out, 2020 saw millions of nurses around the world rising to the challenge of Covid-19 and "taking the noble traditions of their profession to a new level."

"In South Africa, our nurses came up with a level of resilience and grit that was highly commendable," said Professor Portia Jordan, Executive Head of Stellenbosch University's (SU) Department of Nursing and Midwifery during a recent webinar to acknowledge the International Year of the Nurse and the Midwife and their contribution to combating the Covid-19 pandemic.

The WHO named 2020 as the Year of the Nurse and the Midwife to mark 200 years since the birth of Florence Nightingale who set up the principles of modern nursing and hospital sanitation. Today the world needs nine million more nurses and midwives to achieve universal health coverage by 2030.

"We all started celebrating nursing around the globe earlier this year, but that shifted from celebration to dealing with the pandemic. It has caused untold suffering and devastation, economic turmoil and mental health manifestation – and nurses have been the frontline workers and the backbone of the struggle," Jordan said.

In South Africa, about 27 360 healthcare workers tested positive for Covid-19, with 230 succumbing to the virus, of which 52 percent were nurses.

Jordan said nurses in South Africa faced numerous challenges in tackling the pandemic, including shortages of staff and equipment, a lack of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), political challenges such as union actions, as well as the physical and emotional toll the pandemic took on them. This included the fear of contracting and transmitting the virus – and anxiety to adjust to the constantly changing strategies to treat the virus.

"There were also challenges with palliative care as Covid-19 was a new diagnosis … how do you do palliative care for something that is so different and changing on a daily basis?"

Nurses also had to struggle with stigmatisation – many people were concerned about interacting with them and their families because of their exposure to the virus – as well as "role conflict" on how to put their energy into dealing with the pandemic while also coping with family life. This took many nurses close to burnout, Jordan said.

Despite this, nurses stood together in their profession for the sake of the patients: "seeing patients through their recoveries and, in some cases, through their peaceful deaths. Our nurses have been the frontline soldiers in this war and provided the vital human connection at the bedside while caring for the patients."

Professor Hester Klopper, SU's Deputy Vice Rector: Strategy and Internationalisation, referred to the State of the World's Nursing Report 2020, saying it was a reminder of the unique role nurses and midwives play and a "wake up call" to ensure they get the support they need to play their role in health in the world.

Governments, corporations and the public in general should move "from clapping to investment" in terms of nurses' and midwives' integral role in health systems in all countries.

"We are saluting nurses, but it's now time to shift towards investment," Klopper said.

The report reveals that investment is needed in nursing education, in jobs and in leadership to reach the global healthcare goals.

"Nurses are the largest component of healthcare workforces and account for more than half the workforce. There are about 28 million nurses and midwives around the world. Although there has been an increase of 4,7 million between 2013 and 2017, there are still many more needed. Africa is the region with the largest need for more trained nurses so we need to invest in nursing education."

Minister Nomafrench Mbombo, Western Cape Provincial Minister of Health said there was no better time than now for nursing to "rise up" because, she said, "there might be another pandemic".

Mbombo said it was vital to use the lessons learnt from Covid-19 to identify some of the gaps in healthcare.

She added that nurses should be given the "physical, mental and educational" tools to do their jobs.

Professor Glenda Gray, CEO of the South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC), also paid tribute to nurses and included anecdotes of her personal experience as a paediatrician, with nurses.

"As a young doctor and paediatrician, it was the nurses and midwives who taught me and, in fact, who helped me deliver my first baby. It wasn't the registrar or consultants, but the nurses that held my hand and helped me. That's the story of healthcare in SA."

Gray also acknowledged the role nurses have played in the HIV, Ebola and Covid-19 pandemics.

She also spoke of the important role nurses play in research. "Research in this country cannot happen without nurses."

Gray also praised nurses for being "the voice against inadequate PPE".

"They articulated that it was inadequate. If not for nurses, we would not have known about inadequate PPE and unacceptable working conditions."

She also hailed them for the quality of care they delivered during Covid-19 and for how they quickly navigated the changing circumstances around the pandemic.

"They helped dying patients to interface with their families, using their cellphones and data to do the calls to people outside the hospital. They understood how terrible it is to die during Covid-19 without their loved ones. They were the ones delivering the care. Without nurses, we would not have got through all these pandemics. This is an important year to acknowledge nurses."

Other panelists at the webinar included Professor Doreen Kaura, Head of Social Impact in SU's Department of Nursing and Midwifery; Professor Lydia Aziato, Dean of the School of Nursing and Midwifery, University of Ghana and Mrs Edna Tallam, CEO of the Nursing Council of Kenya.

 



Banner caption: Profs Julia Blitz, Doreen Kaura, Portia Jordan and Hester Klopper.

Insert caption: Prof Julia Blitz, Minister Nomafrench Mbombo and Profs Glenda Gray, Hester Klopper, Protia Jordan and Koreen Kaura.