CHARLESTON, W.Va. — National Nurses Day is observed every year on May 6. The day, which also is the start of National Nurses Week, aims to recognize individuals in the nursing field who use their skills to promote the well-being of patients while sometimes putting their own health at risk.
This year’s day and week mean something different; nurses across the country continue being tested by the coronavirus pandemic, which has included working long hours with limited resources.
“The majority of us got into nursing because we wanted to take care of people. We do what we have to do,” said Lisa Barlow, a Charleston nurse for Genesis Healthcare.
Barlow went to a New Jersey nursing facility at the start of the pandemic to treat people. She spent Wednesday at the White House for a National Nurse Week event.
“We support each other. We have families that support us. They knew what they were getting into when they got into a relationship with a nurse,” she said. “They knew what our priorities would be.”
Barlow told MetroNews while the situation at health care facilities has improved since the start of the pandemic, many facilities are still struggling.
“We’ve had some struggles with personal protective equipment, staffing and testing results for COVID patients,” she said. “It’s definitely been a challenge. A whole new world as far as nursing is concerned these days.”
Joyce Wilson, president of the West Virginia Nurses Association, echoed Barlow’s statements on this being a “whole new world,” adding nurses are often on the frontline of health care treatment normally.
“For what one doctor can do, it takes about 20 nurses behind the scenes doing the actual patient care,” she said. “This is unprecedented.”
Wilson also discussed the stress of being a nurse has increased because of the fear of spreading the coronavirus and properly treating it.
“That’s going to wear you out emotionally and physically,” she said.
Barlow mentioned she thinks about when the coronavirus will end “every day.”
“I keep waiting for it to finally be over,” she said.
The World Health Organization previously declared this year as the Year of the Nurse and the Midwife.