Voices Magazine Vol3 Issue 5

VOICES Bi-Monthly Magazine of the University of Technology, Jamaica | May – August 2020 14 T The Caribbean School of Nursing in the College of Health Sciences, hosted an informative series of virtual seminars to highlight and explore the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on nursing and midwifery professions. Convenor of the series,Dr.Adella Campbell,Head,Caribbean School of Nursing, explained that the seminars were framed as a conversation to create a forum through which health care professionals could share personal experiences with COVD-19, highlight the impact on nursing and midwifery education and practice, and discuss the way forward regionally and internationally, post pandemic. Participants were also permitted a space to voice the traumatic experiences they have faced during the crisis, and were provided with resources and self-care tools to safeguard their psychological and physical health. The seminars were held on May 28, July 2, and July 14, 2020, under the themes “COVID-19: Impact on Nursing and Midwifery Education and Practice”, “Battling COVID-19: Resources for Nurses and Midwives’ survival” and “Help me please! Nurses and midwives voice the psychological effects of COVID-19 on their lives and families.” Caribbean School of Nursing Hosts COVID-19 Nursing and Midwifery Virtual Seminar Series “Battling COVID-19: Resources for Nurses and Midwives’ survival” Dr. Bridgette Johnson, Director of Clinical Practice & Regulatory Compliance, Jackson Health System, Florida, USA, gave timely advice on policies, procedures and individual actions that would enable nurses and midwives to navigate the pandemic safely. Dr. Johnson’s presentation outlined a range of tools implemented at the Jackson Health System, an integrated healthcare delivery organization encompassing Jackson Memorial Hospital, Holtz Children’s Hospital, Jackson South Medical Center, and other hospitals, medical, urgent and primary care centers that serve the Miami-Dade County in Florida, USA. She indicated that it was necessary to craft a Crisis Care Delivery Model, i.e. an overarching policy that would inform “the substantial change in usual healthcare operations and the level of care it is possible to deliver, which is made necessary by a pervasive or catastrophic disaster” precipitated by the pandemic. Dr. Patrece Charles, Counselling Psychologist, Jamaica, provided resources for the medical fraternity to combat the burdensome psychological effects of the global crisis. She explained that she had first hand-experience of the trauma of the pandemic on nurses, from her position as an employer, and detailed some of the steps she had taken to protect her staff and geriatric patients. She emphasized the value of compassion, empathy and communication as the key response in providing support. The Counselling Psychologist expressed the need for nurses to be aware of their stress symptoms, including fear, anger and anxiety. She detailed relaxation techniques, including deep breathing, meditation and obtaining adequate rest. She urged nurses to keep in mind the vital role that they played in fighting the pandemic, and stressed that they should always recognize that they are doing the best they can with the resources at their disposal. She also praised nurses and medical staff for never losing motivation or their willingness to continue to offer medical care, even with the increasing uncertainty about their own safety and that of their families.