Thanks, but we need support
International Midwives Day (May 5) and International Nurses Day (May 21) provide an opportunity to recognise the contribution of incredible professionals and reflect on the past 12 months in which nurses and midwives have been at the bedsides of patients directly affected by COVID-19.
These frontline workers have ensured the protection and recovery of their patients and clients across the globe, risking their own health in the process.
For this we are incredibly grateful and thankful for their contribution and support. It does not go unnoticed.
While words of thanks are appreciated, what matters most to nurses and midwives is their ability to provide quality care for their patients and clients.
In 2021, the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation Tasmanian Branch (ANMF) is hearing increasingly from nurses and midwives in all sectors that staff shortages are adversely impacting their ability to do their job.
This is not a surprise. The deficit in qualified nurses and midwives has been anticipated and publicised for years. But the issues cannot be ignored any longer. We’re going to need more than a thank you to fix it.
As members of the community, you and your loved ones have the right to safe and quality care. Nurses and midwives want to ensure this, but if the state of healthcare in Tasmania is ignored any longer, this may not be the reality. Short staffing, double shifts and burnout are already impacting services. This leaves us asking the question: what level of care will be available in the future if there is no action now to improve conditions?
In 2021, the Year of the Health and Care Worker, we need to do more than simply thank nurses and midwives for their contribution – we need to give them what they require to keep us safe and cared for. As a community, we must push for change, to ask our State and Federal Government for adequate support for these invaluable professionals.
Every single one of us will seek the care of nurses and midwives at least once in our lives. Action is needed now to ensure they can be standing next to us when we need them in the future.
Today we would like to thank nurses and midwives and call upon the government to not only thank frontline workers, but adequately resource our healthcare system.