Five Simple Things We Can Do for Nurses and Healthcare Staff during the Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic is continuously spreading worldwide. If you are enjoying good health, staying at home with your family, and enjoying your holidays during this pandemic, believe me you are a lucky one. Many healthcare providers are at their jobs and at a high risk of getting infected due to their exposure to critically ill COVID-19 patients. They are working full-time in the hospitals and many have been infected by the virus and many have died due to this deadly disease.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines of safety, COVID-19 spreads via droplets and contact. Therefore, a droplet barrier precaution, environmental hygiene, and other necessary measures to prevent the infection are recommended. The CDC recommends healthcare providers who are directly dealing with COVID-19 patients to use specialized personal protective equipment (PPE) such as gloves, gown, an N95 grade respirator with a face shield or goggles, and an air-purifying respirator (PAPR). However, many healthcare providers such as physicians, nurses, pharmacists, and other healthcare workers have limited access to personal protective equipment and other facilities.

No one knows how long it will take for the complete control of the pandemic. Vaccine development and research into medical treatment for COVID-19 are underway, but it may take months to years. Meanwhile, we need to do something for our healthcare providers who are front-line warriors during this pandemic crisis. There are five simple things we can do for our healthcare providers to support and motivate them.

1. Donating personal protective equipment

We can purchase different personal protective equipment and donate them to the hospitals for our healthcare providers such as N95 masks, gloves, face shields, gowns, etc.

2. By giving a shout out on social media

Healthcare providers are our front-line heroes. We can salute, thank, encourage, and motivate them by giving shout outs on social media and other electronic media platforms, so that they will know their importance and the value of their sacrifices for society.

3. Telling management and government to increase personal protective equipment for healthcare providers

We can raise a social media campaign and demand for an increase in the supply of personal protective equipment for healthcare providers. By talking and emphasizing this issue, we can put pressure on the government and stakeholders of healthcare organizations to provide more protection to nurses and other healthcare providers as well as strengthen their support to help our nurses cope with various social struggles.

4. Donating blood 

We can donate blood to critically ill COVID-19 patients and healthcare providers as our blood can possibly save a precious life.

5. Providing social support to healthcare providers

If we have healthcare providers in our vicinity, we can support them by supporting their children and pets. We can cook or donate a meal for their family, bring unopened and exciting gifts for their children, and spend some time with them as their parents are either or on duty or infected by COVID-19.

We should always remember our front-line heroes during this pandemic and their sacrifices as they risk their lives to save ours. We should show that we acknowledge their hardships, and we should thank and support them for everything they have done for our society.

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