Nurses thanks to colleagues
Celebration of profession after ‘horrific’ year
NURSES from the Portsmouth area have praised colleagues and fellow medical staff on International Nurses Day.
Celebrated every May 12 the birthday of nursing icon Florence Nightingale - it is an annual day of celebration for nurses.
Yesterday many of these medical workers reflected back over what has been a unique year.
Melanie Poulter and Sandra Spong are both heads of nursing and allied health professionals for the south east.
Sandra, who covers Fareham and Gosport, said: ‘We marked International Nurses Day by celebrating being a team together. It’s especially poignant after the past year.’ Melanie, who covers south-east Hampshire, said: ‘It’s been one of the most challenging years in my nursing career, and I’ve been qualified since 1994. It’s tested all of our knowledge bases, and we’ve had to consider how best to look after our staff as well as our patients.
Sandra, who lives in Waterlooville, added: ‘We’ve never been exposed to anything like this in our lives.
‘It was really scary.’ Melanie, from Stubbington, said: ‘As we moved deeper into the pandemic, we learned more about how the disease affected patients, and some of it was horrific.
‘We needed to pull on each other and every one of us to support our patients.’
Both Melanie and Sandra say that their message to their staff and other nurses on May 12 was a resounding ‘thank you’.
Sandra said: ‘I don’t know what we’d have done during the pandemic without the experience and expertise of the NHS. Everyone who worked within it should be extremely proud.’
Sarah Radley is clinical team lead for health visitors and has a background in nursing.
She lives in Eastleigh, and has worked throughout the pandemic to support families with new babies and young children.
Sarah said: ‘All nurses should be so proud of the commitment they have shown.’
Jacky Hunt has written a blog talking about her experience as the lead nurse for infection prevention control across Hampshire throughout the pandemic.
In her blog, Jacky, who graduated nearly 30 years ago, writes: ‘Hands-down, this has been the most professionally interesting, all absorbing and exhausting time of my entire career.’