by Dr. Andrew Kwasnica, Physician, Shoreline Medical Society and SPH Medical Lead and Division Head, Family Practice –
Nurses constitute the majority of healthcare providers in our hospital, and they have a critical function in all healthcare systems.
During the pandemic, they have dealt with scarcity of supplies, critical staff shortages, risk of infection, increased stress and feelings of isolation, as well as a greater number of patients to care for. They have been assailed by protesters. Despite this, they have been asked to work double shifts. They have been asked to cancel time off to provide coverage. They are being worked to the point of burnout.
We tend to refer to nurses as “guardian angels” or “superheroes.” While I appreciate these sentiments, I’m not sure it’s helpful to perpetuate the idea that nurses are selfless or indestructible beings, dropped from on high, and not people with children to feed and complex jobs to perform. They are human beings, and they have real limitations.
What does a nurse symbolize? Compassion and patience; empathy and sensitivity. It means being there for a total stranger at all hours of the day and night. It’s that ability to help keep a patient’s loved one calm, even in the most stressful of situations. Nurses are leaders, professionals and healers. They are vital to the humanity in medical care.
In talking to nurses at the Saanich Peninsula Hospital, I am struck by two things. First, after more than two years of COVID-19, nurses think that things are very bad. And secondly: the pandemic is bringing to light cracks in the system – old facilities and understaffing among them.
One of the things I’ve learned recently is that applications to Canadian nursing schools have increased. It gives me hope that women, and increasingly men, recognize what a terrific career it can be, one where every day brings the chance to improve a stranger’s life.
But we need to recognize the hard and invaluable work they do, and make sure we say thank you more. Because – and this is important – the problem is not recruiting nurses, but retaining them. We cannot survive without these foundational members of the health care team.
I hope that patients, families and colleagues can strive to return the empathy offered to them by nursing staff. They are a gift to us all in our times of need, but they cannot keep on giving unless we ensure they have the support, personnel and resources to do so.
