The ‘Nursing Perspectives on the Impacts of COVID-19’
The ‘Nursing Perspectives on the Impacts of COVID-19′ article elaborates on nurses’ contribution during this period of coronavirus outbreak. According to the article, the crucial functions and roles of nurses cover five significant domains. The first domain is offering health education, screening services, and even supporting people in high-risk groups. Health education covers infection prevention strategies such as informing people to wash hands regularly, avoid touching noses, eyes, and mouths, and cancel group activities like communal dining. As indicated by the article, screening services concentrate on screening people for potential infections like COVID-19. At the same time, support focuses on offering emotional support to those people that have been isolated due to the pandemic.
Apart from providing health education and screening services, nurses also provide nosocomial infection surveillance and prevention. In this domain, nurses screen suspected cases, implement standard precautions, and educate and train families, patients, and healthcare staff to prevent nosocomial infections. Additionally, nurses offer isolation care, conduct respiratory and fever examinations, and further offer emotional support to people under mandatory quarantine restrictions. The third domain of nurses stipulated in the article is implementing suitable precautions and preparations in nursing homes and sustainable healthcare settings. Since patients in nursing homes and long-term facilities are vulnerable to contracting infections such as COVID-19, nurses should prepare a safe and protective environment at these sites to prevent further spread of the disease. Nurses create care plans such as determining and managing ill patients, establishing safe visiting policies that restrict the number of people who visit the patient and carrying out significant education and training.
The fourth domain of nursing involves protecting patients with underlying diseases such as cancer, chronic illnesses, and immune deficits. These people are at significant risk of being infected by COVID-19 infection than any other people. Cancer patients, particularly those with hematological malignancies undergoing chemotherapy and patients receiving bone marrow transplants and immunosuppressive therapies, are educated and cared for by nurses to prevent infection. Informing patients on protection strategies is a significant function of nurses.
As discussed in this article, the final domain of nurses is offering care to COVID-19 patients in critical condition. Coronavirus pandemic induces severe pneumonia and causes death in every age group, with older people, and people with immune deficits are the most affected. Nurses offer urgent and intensive care to these patients, especially those with severe conditions. However, they should ensure that they are protected by sufficient individual protective equipment to prevent them from being infected. When caring for COVID-19 patients, nursing staff offer direct life-sustaining care to help patients recover from the induced pneumonia and offer psychological support to patients in a state of distress.
Apart from outlining nurses’ role, the article also discussed the primary challenges faced by nursing professionals during the coronavirus outbreak. One of the critical challenges that nurses faced is support to bridge the gap in essential knowledge. Because COVID-19 is a newly identified disease, nurses might face the risk of infection, potential work-related anxiety, and mental health issues. Therefore, it is significant to apply current knowledge to safeguard nursing staff and healthcare professionals who care for COVID-19 patients. As indicated by Chen et al. (2020), healthcare providers must be educated concerning infectious disease dangers such as proper personal protective equipment use, environmental measures, and appropriate personal hygiene practices. Nurses also have a challenge in preventing healthcare system inadequacies, particularly in conveying adequate personal protective equipment (PPEs) to the healthcare system. Inadequate PPEs have been associated with illness and occupational exposure. Improving both procurement and production is vital to ensure safety in the workplace.
The workforce shortage is another challenge that has been experienced during outbreaks of well-known contagious illnesses such as COVID-19. Healthcare professionals’ shortage during COVID outbreaks is caused by uncertainties regarding real cases and life-threatening sources of infections among healthcare staff. Healthcare, government, and nursing administration system policies may prevent the quick COVID-19 spread by applying protective equipment use, infection control education, and isolation of infected patients. Employment incentives and benefits policies may be utilized to increase staff retention during the outbreaks. Nurses also face psychological and social support challenges. During new infectious diseases outbreak, anxiety, panic, and uncertainty spread rapidly as the overall situation continues to change. Therefore, it is significant to support people with the disease, healthcare professionals, and those under isolation to prevent conflicts that stem from disease-related isolation and discrimination.
The article is significant to the topics covered because it provides more insights into nurses’ role and the challenges they are facing during this time of coronavirus outbreak. From this article, people can learn the importance of nurses during the contagious outbreak in caring and providing health education to affected or infected people.
In summary, nurses are vital members of the healthcare team responsible for managing and preventing infectious diseases spread. In most cases, they work on the frontline, offering direct care to people infected with COVID-19. However, health organizations need to create strategic recommendations to integrate new insight into nurses’ education. As immediate efforts to manage and prevent coronavirus outbreak remain ongoing, nurses should protect themselves as they provide care to the infected people. The government and nursing administration systems should better understand the stress, concerns, and perceptions of nursing to provide important information that administrative systems utilize to support nurses during future contagious disease outbreaks.