As I write this editorial, we are at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. The daily death toll remains high, and is not showing immediate signs of abating; we have just received news that the UK will be in lockdown for a further three weeks at least (BBC, 2020). NHS colleagues in hospitals and the community are working tirelessly, and selflessly, to save lives. Public admiration and gratitude for health workers and everyone in frontline, essential services has never been higher, and rightly so. The weekly throng of wooden spoons on pan lids, whistles, claps and cheers on Thursday evenings at 8 pm are testimony to our heartfelt thanks to these essential workers.
In these unusual and difficult times, we are challenged to think about new ways of working. Routine clinical work is as pressing as ever, and being delivered in different, often unfamiliar ways, and community nurses are expected to rapidly assimilate new information about how to manage and protect patients and themselves. We are turning to the internet, not only to keep in touch with each other and those we care for but also to learn and develop new skills.
Online and blended learning approaches have been around for a long time, but have increased in popularity. Continuing professional development funding has all but dried up in much of the UK, and study leave is hard to come by. Community nurses need to access courses and evidence to inform their practice in the most flexible and user-friendly way possible, at a time and location that suits them. This was never more so than right now, during a pandemic, when remote learning is the only viable option.
Gone are the days of dry online courses that were essentially repositories of information, which were often overwhelming, difficult to navigate and off putting at best. Advances in technology, and our understanding of what learners want and need in their time pressured lives, has led to far more interactive, accessible and enjoyable courses of varying lengths to suit different audiences. Trainers and educators have recognised that learning needs to be interactive, creative and fun.
Online learning is particularly apposite during the pandemic, to remain up-to-date with the latest guidance about patient care. There is a multitude of ideas about the potential of e-learning, and various ways in which high-quality information about COVID-19 can be accessed through online media. Highly recommended is an e-learning for healthcare programme about COVID-19 run by Health Education England (2020) that is freely available to all healthcare workers. The modules present up-to-date evidence on patient care, such as infection prevention and control and end-of-life care and, equally importantly, material on staff wellbeing and resilience to support emotional health during the pandemic. If you have not accessed online material before, or your experiences have been less than positive, tapping into this programme may be just the opportunity to get you started (it is accessible here: https://www.hee.nhs.uk/coronavirus-covid-19).
COVID-19 has been, and remains, an enormous global challenge in myriad ways. The morbidity, morality, suffering and economic consequences have been on an unprecedented scale. In the midst of this crisis, however, there are glimmers of hope. Many of us have connected more with each other in communities than, arguably, ever before, and have found new-perhaps better-ways of doing things. Online or e-learning is an example of a positive outcome of COVID-19 that will probably be sustained long after this crisis is over.
And, in the meantime, listen out for us on Thursday at 8 pm as we shout our gratitude and dent the lid of our pans to say thank you for everything you are doing for your patients and their families. Stay as safe as you possibly can, and stay well.