Beacons of Light in a Year Like No Other A Q&A with Ric Cuming, Ed.D., RN, NEA-BC, FAAN, ChristianaCare chief nurse executive and president of ChristianaCare HomeHealth During a year unprecedented in modern history, nurses have provided hope and healing to millions of people. Ric Cuming reflects on how nurse caregivers across ChristianaCare and HomeHealth made all the difference.
How did the extraordinary circumstances of 2020 make it a year truly about nursing? The World Health Organization couldn’t have predicted a global public health crisis when it designated 2020 the Year of the Nurse and Midwife. When COVID-19 hit, the pandemic put nurses center stage, and now the world sees what those of us in health care have known for a long time—nurses are true superheroes. ChristianaCare and HomeHealth nurses and nurse partners have put their training, expertise and experience to work caring for patients, each other and our community in ways they likely never expected to. The year 2020 also marked Florence Nightingale’s 200th birthday. It was incredible to celebrate the mother of modern nursing during a year when nurses embodied everything Nightingale stood for: evidence-based, patient-focused care, leadership and collaboration. And I am proud that so many of our nurses were featured on 2020nurseandmidwife.org/ stories, a website celebrating the Year of the Nurse and Midwife.
How did ChristianaCare nurses meet the moment? With exceptional grace, skill and courage. Even as they feared for their families’ health, grappled with shifting family responsibilities and more, our caregivers never wavered in serving everyone with love and excellence. Most amazing to experience was the all-hands-on-deck mentality. Nurses took on new roles to optimize care delivery and meet capacity during surges. For example, nurses were reassigned to provide telehealth consultations and COVID-19 monitoring, serve as visitor and employee entry screeners and work in COVID-19 units and testing centers.
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