Position statements
Covid-19: thank you to all nurses worldwide
· Public access
Press release of 23 March 2020. In the midst of the Covid-19 crisis, ANFIIDE salutes the commitment of nurses on all fronts and calls for those who care to be protected.
The World Health Organization had dedicated 2020 to nurses and midwives. The festive events planned to highlight the profession's contribution were cancelled: the Covid-19 epidemic imposed other priorities. The public no longer needs to be told about nurses' contribution—they see it every day, in hospitals and in the community.
Without effective treatment, nursing care makes the difference
France was then the third most affected country in Europe. Without curative treatment, nursing care makes the difference, as it did in the early twentieth century before antibiotics arrived. With patients, it is about protecting the person weakened by the virus, ensuring their comfort and preventing complications from immobility and artificial ventilation. In the community, it is about slowing the spread of infection, relaying hygiene advice, informing and supporting worried families, and addressing the anxiety of older people and those with chronic illness.
Nurses on all fronts
- Management designs new ways of working and redeploys teams: patient flows, staffing, equipment, supplies.
- Public health nurses sit on crisis management committees.
- Education creates distance learning pathways to avoid delaying qualifications, and students, particularly in specialist fields, strengthen the care offer.
- Nurses are contributing to ongoing research: treatments, vaccines, reducing risky behaviours.
ANFIIDE strongly supports its nursing colleagues, as well as care assistants, support workers and home care assistants who face the same situation in the community. Their unprecedented mobilisation is applauded every evening in many neighbourhoods.
Caring for those who care
Protecting healthcare workers must be a priority for decision-makers. If healthcare workers fall ill for lack of masks, care for everyone collapses, and human lives are lost.
Nurses continue to care with courage, at risk to their own health. For them and their families, ANFIIDE mobilises itself and offers them unwavering support.