April 26th, 2020

Hello All!

FHMatters hopes that everyone is staying home and well, and when you do have to go out that you are following the best practice possible to keep you and your family safe. The crisis we are all in is unbelievable. I do not think that anyone imagined this type of situation ever happening in the US, never mind on our own front door. We need to all band together to be strong, support each other, report symptoms early, and follow the guidelines to our best abilities to help prevent the spread and prolongation of the virus.

I would bet that many of you did not know that prior to the onset of the COVID 19 pandemic, 2020 was name by the World Health Organization as the Year of the Nurse in celebration of the advances and transformation that the nursing profession as had over the last 200 years. I did not know this myself until I read an article written by a nurse that was published in the corner of a newspaper from a mid-western state and reproduced by a nursing journal. I have always been passionate about nursing as a profession; after all I am a nurse first and always will be. There was never anything else that I could ever imagine doing in my life other than being a nurse.

After reading the article, I felt compelled to look up the meaning of the word nurse / nursing. “Nursing is a profession within the health care sector focused on the care of individuals, families, and communities so they may attain, maintain, or recover optimal health and quality of life” (Websters Dictionary). I wanted to include a portion of the article as it was written because I could never express it in the same way as the author has because she has truly captured the essence of the nurse and nursing as it is happening live right now.

“I’ve seen teamwork so powerful that feeling alone is simply not an option. I have witnessed innovation creating solutions to problems that I never thought a first-world country would endure. I have watched coworkers exemplify more compassion and dedication than I have seen as a whole in my last four years as a nurse in my unit. But most importantly, I have observed the utmost commitment and bravery to the unknown by my coworkers and friends. We couldn’t have predicted that one day we’d be consoling family members at the bedside and the next day having to hear tearful family member’s voices on the phone asking us when this will end and if they’ll ever see their loved ones again, because of federal and local visitation guidelines. We couldn’t have predicted that one day our unit wouldn’t have a single patient victimized by COVID-19 and the next day having all beds filled with COVID-19 patients needing full life support because of this worldwide pandemic that seemed to happen overnight.

But what we could have predicted is that we are all strong and called to this profession by something greater. We are called to show up when family members simply wish they could lay eyes on their loved ones. We are called to be brave when the rest of the world is living in unprecedented fear. It is the weirdest and most unsettling feeling that the whole world is going through, but we will live making history every single day (Blaire Guidry, RN, BSN).”

I want to thank each and everyone of my nurse colleagues that are on the front lines at hospitals, nursing homes, assisted living facilities, group homes, urgent cares, hospital emergency rooms, etc. I also want to recognize all the nurses in medical and specialty offices, infusion centers, and yes in practice as nurse clinicians, specialists, and nurse practitioners manning the home front trying to keep families healthy and safe. I could not be prouder of each and every one of you!

So very privileged to be a nurse. I am awed by your dedication, strength, and compassion. Please stay safe.

Roz K.