When’s the last time you stopped to take stock of the impact you’ve had on the people around you and how that plays out on a daily basis?
For me, it’s been a while! But, when I learned of an experience one of our dear faculty members had this year it allowed me to pause and be reminded of why it is that we at Edson College do what we do: preparing health professionals to provide the best care possible across any health setting.
A year ago, the other pandemic — the pandemic of inequality — was heavy on my mind. It still is. But at least now, as with the ongoing challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, the way forward is clearer. We can act with purpose to address the scourge of disparity, and we can measure progress.
“Let’s say there’s a day when nurses didn’t come to the hospital. It’s like, why do you even open?” Dr. Frank LoVecchio, an emergency medicine physician in Phoenix, spoke plain truth in the poignant short film “Death, Through a Nurse’s Eyes.” The recent documentary gives an ICU nurse’s-eye view of the pandemic’s winter surge at Valleywise Health Medical Center.
As an industry, nursing education and indeed all of health care, has produced so many aha moments in this last year! We have been coming up with really out-of-the-box ways to advance curricula and treatment strategies. But it’s the tried and true basics, good hygiene, staying home when you're ill and masking that has had a historical impact here in Arizona.
If 2020 has taught us anything, it’s that effective modern health care needs to support everyone, not just a fortunate few. This mindset forms the bedrock of Arizona State University, where we define ourselves by whom we include, not exclude. Whom do we include in our health care solutions? Do we listen to multiple stakeholders in our search for better delivery? This search for inclusion causes us to look not only to traditional providers but also to rural communities, underserved populations, and small, nonprofit organizations.
Before COVID-19, there was robust thinking and conversation about social isolation and loneliness being the next public health crisis. Research provided ominous warnings about the broad impact of the pandemic, including a finding that isolation among older adults is associated with a 50 percent increased risk of dementia.
A new year is upon us and while many of us are ready to turn the page on an incredibly tough and tragic 2020 there is much work to be done. One clear reminder of this is the need for an entire month dedicated to the prevention of slavery and human trafficking. In 2010, January was declared National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month.
What a year, eh? There are so many things that I could say about these past 11 months and I’ll get into that in a minute. But first, I want to start by expressing my sincere gratitude. Thanks to all of you who read my blog posts, to our resilient students, staff, and faculty who have moved mountains this year. 2020 has tested and stretched us all in new and uncomfortable ways and here we are, still moving forward.
When will we have a COVID-19 vaccine? The answer to that question is what everyone around the world wants to know. Surely once we have a vaccine, we can get back to our regular lives. So why not rush one out today?
In short, it’s because good, ethical clinical research takes time.
Clinical researchers across the globe are all in on trying to respond to one of the biggest challenges of our time. Their work is essential to helping the world reach the other side of the Novel Coronavirus crisis.
Health care, you would think, would be the place where the old adage about never letting a serious crisis go to waste would never apply. It’s an appalling thought on its face.
But here we are, six months into the worst public health crisis of our generation, and we are seizing opportunities wherever we can in nursing education. We must.