Nurses are More Than Heroes: Saving Nurses in a Collective Health Crisis
The past 18 months has forced Canadians to navigate a health crisis unlike any most have seen in their lifetime. COVID-19 has challenged people around the world to change the way they live their lives to curb the spread of a deadly virus. Canadians were challenged to work together, and they did. In the fight against COVID-19 many gaps in the healthcare and social welfare system we illuminated. The more than 50 000 nurses in BC are front and centre in this fight. Erosion of nurse jobs is not a new phenomenon . For decades public trust and value of nurses has been high , while funding cuts risk safe workplaces, adequate training, and support for competent practice within nurses' full scope. A year ago, amidst lockdowns, and bombardment of new information about illness and death rates, the public was unsure and afraid of what the future would hold. The collective health of the nation was in flux, and a collective voice stoo...