Five Ways the Nursing Field has Improved Since the Pandemic

One of the strangest phenomena of the modern world is that happenings in any part of the world impact every other corner readily. The credit probably goes to extensive global connectivity. It is also why the pandemic has influenced almost every field and individual around the world. The same is true for the nursing profession.

Fortunately, the influence is comparatively positive for the profession from a long-term perspective. As such, nurses have finally gained due recognition during the fight against Covid-19. It is because, previously, their efforts were under the shadows. The pandemic has showcased the professional resilience and stability of nurses during the most uncertain and exhausting times.

Most importantly, their struggle has also highlighted challenges they encounter while carrying out their frontline duties, regardless of healthcare emergencies. It is why global efforts endeavor to address the shortcomings of the profession and facilitate professionals holistically.

The following sections further discuss some of the ways the nursing field has improved since the pandemic.

  1. Justifiable compensation of caregiving efforts

Generally, nurses carry out a multitude of duties even beyond their capability and related compensation. However, the pandemic has indicated that unjustifiable packages downgrade financial standing and also minimize nurses’ enthusiasm. As a result, they cannot accomplish their personal life and occupational responsibilities effectively. 

Lower compensation also heightens healthcare risks as they cannot fulfill prerequisites of quality life, such as a nutritious diet and routine health checkups. Thus policymakers are focusing on maximizing compensation against the untiring efforts of the nursing professionals. 

It is why the average salary packages of nurses are higher than the average of many other professions at present. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, a forensic nurse salary can go as high as approximately $75,330 a year.

Apart from wages, they also have job stability, health insurance, development opportunities, and much more. Justifiable credit is one of the reasons why many young individuals are pursuing the nursing profession these days. Nonetheless, compensation is just one of the acknowledgments to help frontline workers serve contentedly.

  1. The emergence of new roles besides caregiving

At present, nurses are not only bound to nursing duties. Their scope has both expanded and advanced in parallel with the field’s evolution and trials. As such, they are contributing to examining healthcare trends to foresee the emergence of diseases in advance. It means nurses have enriched their capabilities and expertise to target health issues before they even surface on the forefront.

Similarly, they have further entrenched their reach to public healthcare via far-reaching involvement in community education campaigns. Such engagement is also guiding healthcare policies in line with inclusive welfare. As a result of awareness campaigns, the public is also the principal partaker of their well-being initiatives. It means nurses are contributing to strengthening the healthcare system by bridging its connectivity to the healthcare recipients.

Additionally, rigorous fight with the virus has also made them more aware of the systems’ inefficiency. As a result, they have amassed the experience to voice over the shortfalls and guide needed changes in the system’s repair. In essence, the nursing profession is broadening and refining its influence to cater to public healthcare inclusively with diverse roles.

  1. Attending to the struggles of frontline workers

Undeniably, the virus is equally fatal for every individual, regardless of their professional affiliation. Yet, nurses and other healthcare staff stood unwavering and attended to their patients. Such a courageous display of their efforts has also disclosed a multitude of risks for the professionals.

As such, nurses in underfunded facilities attended to contagious patients without comprehensive protection. Several nurses served for extended durations due to higher patient inflow and limited healthcare professionals. A majority of the workers could not even visit their loved ones because of the transmissible risks of the virus. 

Apart from disease risk, such circumstances made them more physically, emotionally, and psychologically vulnerable. However, it is not the first time that they have encountered such turmoil. The pandemic has only highlighted these challenges in the true sense. It is why ongoing policies focus on enhancing their protection so that they can continue to serve firmly.

In that capacity, hospitals now invest in equipping frontline workers with multiple layers of protection. As such, emerging policies will focus on sophisticated safety gears, emergency management training, shared workload, and relaxed duty timings.

  1. Adapting and embracing technology in practice

Technology was an essential part of the healthcare system before the Covid-19 pandemic. From advanced equipment to automated surveillance, technology has been facilitating healthcare operations for years. However, its reliance and usage have further increased, ingrained, and refined during the pandemic. 

As such, restrictions on the people to people contact boosted dependence on telehealth services. Though it would have taken years to adopt the trend, the pandemic has expedited its implementation over just a few months. In that capacity, nurses have played a facilitative role in adapting and embracing technology in healthcare practice. 

As such, before the pandemic, nurses were merely assisting experts and patient consultations. Now, their digital literacy helps them cater to distant patients and their care providers via telehealth services. Given the shortage of experts, healthcare facilities can now attend to comparatively less critical and home-based cases with digitally literate nurses.

In essence, nurses can backup physicians to look after in and outdoor patients in parallel via modern tools. It is why telemedicine and telehealth also consume a substantial part of the ongoing nursing training and programs. It means technology once reserved to digital experts is now becoming the norm for nursing professionals as well.

  1. Catering to personal well-being and protection

No doubt, patients are always a crucial concern and focus for healthcare professionals, including nurses. It is why they are flexible in overlooking their requirements for patients’ care. However, the pandemic has shown why personal care and safety are equally nonnegotiable for healthcare workers.

As such, healthy individuals were more guarded against the risks of the disease compared to compromised ones. It means carelessness in looking after personal health and safety hamper attention towards patients and compromise nurses’ performance. Hence, unfit nurses are more likely to fall prey to several diseases, including Covid-19, than healthy ones.

Similarly, their exhaustion can impede their strength and capacity to look after patients attentively. More specifically, the pandemic has minimized their mental health along with physical stamina. As a result, healthcare efforts are diverting attention to the psychological fitness of nurses along with their physical and emotional resilience.

It is because the healthier the professionals, the more proficiently they can manage frontline duties and risks. Since challenges are an integral characteristic of their forefront duty, overlooking personal wellness is not a choice. If they intend to serve energetically, they have to attend to their health too.

Concluding remarks

As the pandemic initially exposed the incompetence of the healthcare sector, it also helped in its refinement. And one of the main contributions of the pandemic is in the nursing profession. It has highlighted healthcare areas lacking attention and support, such as workload, well-being, compensation, training, and more. Given these refinements, future nurses will be more adept, versatile, and lauded in healthcare facilities.