Protect our NHS stars
I VIVIDLY recall my first day on the ward as a student nurse in 1982.
After weeks in a classroom learning to take temperatures and give injections to dummies, my teenage colleagues and I were dispatched to nurse real patients.
I was sent to a trauma ward and was absolutely petrified. My hands shook as I put on my blue uniform and white cap that morning. I was proud, of course, to be fulfilling my vocation.
But when I stood at the bedside of my first actual patient, a woman with a face full of glass from a shattered windscreen, I thought I might faint.
I was scared of doing something wrong and making my patient worse. I didn’t, because experienced colleagues looked over me. But the fear never went and I quit nursing.
So I can’t imagine how much more terrifying it must be starting your nursing career amid this deadly pandemic.
To be standing at the bedsides of critically ill women, men and children, knowing that many are going to die – and that they might endanger your life too. And knowing that experienced colleagues have already paid the ultimate price.
That’s why I shed tears of pride when I saw student nurses preparing to join the front line of the Covid-19 battle. The final year students from the University of Chester volunteered to be fast-tracked into action and have been trained using pretend protective equipment.
But now they’ve heard that two nurses – Aimee O’rourke, 38, and Areema Nasreen, 36 – have died from coronavirus after treating patients. Four doctors have also given their lives while battling this terrible pandemic.
Our NHS heroes know how much the public appreciates their sacrifice. They hear us clapping. They see buildings lit up in blue and windows full off rainbows drawn by grateful youngsters. Yet most of these brave carers STILL haven’t been tested for the virus.
They STILL don’t have adequate personal protective equipment. Some have been threatened with the sack for pleading for it on social media.
They need to fulfil their vocations, with every bit of protection possible.
It won’t kill the fear but it will save lives.