My role as area head of nursing and governance at the Sussex Community NHS Foundation Trust is to lead on all aspects of professional practice, standards, patient safety and quality. I am responsible for ensuring that both clinical and professional standards are in place to deliver safe, effective, responsive and quality care.
The COVID-19 pandemic has been the hardest challenge that we, as nurses, have had to face in a generation. For different staff members, it has meant different things. Many have had to be redeployed into unfamiliar, diverse roles, and they have had to rapidly learn new skills and cope with change at pace. Our redeployed staff, for example, came from children's services to work on adult wards-some of these nurses have not been on a ward for several years. This team was supported by online training and support from practice development nurses to acclimatise to nursing adults, as well as the relevant policies and procedures. Staff had to embrace new digital technology as training moved online and, meetings became virtual. This skillset had to be acquired rapidly, while they continued with their day jobs. The digital work stream has been positively received, as it has reduced travel and enhanced both overall effectiveness.
As well as the day-to-day practical challenges, staff have had to manage working with a heightened level of anxiety, coping with the fear of the unknown, which has made dealing with their own personal and professional apprehensions, with concerns for their own families' safety in addition to the safety of their colleagues and, of course, their patients. Health and wellbeing, both physical and mental, for all healthcare workers during the pandemic has been paramount. As nurses, we are renowned for putting ourselves at the bottom of the list and caring for others first, ignoring our own needs, but it is important to recognise that, although we are nurses, we are also human beings and have the usual human reactions to stressful situations.
The circumstances necessitated heightened communication. Staff huddles became a feature to share the latest information, and the huddles had a very flexible approach in that they were stepped up and down, depending on the need to share information and, more importantly, the need for staff to escalate any professional or personal concerns they were experiencing. All senior management were based at different sites to ensure visibility in all areas, whereby staff had access to support onsite. Clear lines of communication were essential, and we used bite-sized slide decks to capture pertinent changes that staff need to be aware of, as well as a specific area on our intranet for guidance changes and updates.
Interestingly, my own observations have been that, during these trying times, we have felt closer as teams than we have ever felt before. We have communicated through various mediums to ensure that staff members are up-to-date with the latest guidance and changes. We have built in additional meetings to check in with staff, escalate any queries and learn together to keep both ourselves and patients safe. Actively listening to staff and recognising how they are feeling has been vital, and we have acknowledged that we may need to introduce specific support mechanisms to support individuals. For our staff, the mantra throughout the COVID-19 pandemic has been that ‘it is OK not to be OK’, and a variety of mechanisms of support have been readily available for staff; they have been actively encouraged to seek help from a diverse range of networks set up within the organisation and to step out and take breaks when needed.
During important debriefs with teams, we are encountering a tired workforce that has been resilient throughout but is reflecting on what it has lived through and is living through. It is, therefore, essential to care for each other with both kindness and compassion. We can never underestimate what has happened and the personal impact that this had had on our workforce.
It has been a huge privilege to work with such amazing people during these unprecedented times. I am not a fan of the term ‘heroes’, which is commonly used to describe nurses. We are a highly skilled, trained group of professionals, and this is the job we have chosen do both in and out of the pandemic, with compassion, kindness and, yes, courage.