What Should Nurses Remember During COVID-19? by Kerri Paasch, RN

It’s the middle of March in Omaha. St. Patrick’s Day passed with hardly a celebration like we’re used to seeing. Restaurants are not allowing seating but rather only allowing to-go pick ups. Stores are shutting down for the time being. Most, if not all, nursing and assisted living facilities are on lock down with tight screening in place. Even family members of hospice patients have very limited visitation allowances.

WOW! Right? These are unprecedented times for sure.

Social distancing to stay safe from COVID-19 and to help “flatten the curve” has us all feeling isolated at the very least. And maybe we’re struggling a little, too, when we get off work…because the isolation continues with our family…

But here’s a simple thought for you as a healthcare professional:

Those of us who look after hospice patients (or any individual in our care) should have a sharpened sense of purpose with what we do everyday.

Think about that for a moment. What is your purpose?

Let’s do our best to allow this crazy, scary time to help us sharpen our sense of purpose.

My hope for all of us during this time of isolation and social distancing is to try hard to not distance ourselves emotionally from patients, co-workers or our loved ones. We are multi-tasking our feelings as we personally process COVID-19 events along with processing what it means professionally. There is no rule book for this, so we take it one day at a time, as gently as possible.

Starting today, let’s look in the mirror and see the compassion and empathy we have. Is it in our eyes? Our expression? The words we use? Let’s show that compassion and empathy to everyone, including ourselves.

So, moving forward, let’s do our best to focus on OUR PURPOSE as nurses (or as social workers, as CNAs, as bath aids…whatever).

And let’s remember that we are NEEDED, DEPENDABLE, PATIENT and LOVING people who are dedicated to helping others.

Every caregiver at every level is in this together. We can do it! We will pull through because it’s what we do. It’s our sense of purpose.

Kerri Paasch, RN, is a hospice nurse with Prime Home Care LLC Compassionate Care Hospice