What Was It Like To Be A Nurse During The COVID-19 Pandemic
Nursing can be an extraordinary career, but the demand for and shortage of nurses during COVID-19 has pivoted the way we see this profession - through a whole new lens. Nurses help enhance the quality of life measures, walk with patients through difficult medical diagnoses even into a terminal illness, and everything in between. Despite an often taxing level of dedication and sacrifice, we still see a high job satisfaction rate in this profession.
2020 placed a spotlight on nurses' time commitment (extending hours into the earlier mornings and later nights), their mastery of patient care, their empathy toward patients and their families, and the medical expertise needed within this career field.
You might think that nurses just take care of the patients as an assistant to the physicians. While this is true, they do much more. 2020 has proved that nurses care for their patient, they encourage their patients, they are with the patients when the family cannot be, they are engaging in conversation - getting to know the patient, and on top of all of that, they are still working 12+ hour shifts while taking care of themselves and their family.
What Was It Like To Be A Nurse In 2020?
We asked two of our nursing graduates what it was like to be a nurse in 2020 and how it changed how they do their job in 2021.
"The pandemic has created a necessary evil of impersonal connections by stunting the nursing language of comfort. Nursing has a language of comfort that is conveyed through physical touches and facial expressions (i.e. touching shoulders, or smiling) but that language is severely stunted because of the requirements to lessen physical contact and wear masks at all times." – Abigail Tingle, BSN Graduate
"It strengthened the bond of the nurses who worked through it as a team. It will likely be a defining moment of many nursing careers. COVID allowed the world to see how crucial nurses are to healthcare.Nursing continues to be my calling because through each crisis my loyalty to the profession grows. The pandemic shook nursing to its core and those that had Faith have come out with ongoing perseverance and trust in God." – Melissa Allen, MSN Graduate and DNP Student
At Colorado Christian University, our nursing department is not only setting you up for success in the classroom but also in your profession, regardless of the nursing fields you pursue.you pursue. We challenge our nursing degree students to become competent, compassionate, moral leaders who impact their world and transform healthcare through the uniqueness of Christ-inspired nursing practice. At CCU, nursing is both a scientific discipline and a sacred calling. Recognized as one of the top nursing programs in Colorado, CCU's nursing school offers students a unique, faith-based approach to one of the most in-demand careers in the world.
Colorado Christian University does not guarantee any job placement as a result of earning this or any other degrees offered by the university.