I would like to share with you that approximately 314,000 NURSES WORLDWIDE DIED CARING FOR COVID-19 PATIENTS. THE INTERNATIONAL COUNCIL OF NURSING ( ICN) HAS NOT DONE MUCH ABOUT THIS.
BUT I HAVE. In 2022 I and the American Holistic Nurses Association (AHNA) presented our PLAN TO HONOR NURSES WHO HAVE DIED OF COVID, SUICIDE AND VIOLENCE. I am the President, Terri Roberts, RN MA JB and I am forming a NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATION to fulfill our commitment to honor all NURSES WORLDWIDE. VIOLENCE describes the attack and killing of nurses in the ER ICU and mental Health facilities which have risen exponentially in the US and we believe in the world. We know that the suicide rate of nurses is increasing each year due to many factors but ALL RELATED TO OUR HOSPITALS, CLINICS NOT SUPPORTING NURSES with INADEQUATE STAFFING, INFECTION CONTROL AND A LACK OF ANA SPEAKING UP AND TAKING ACTION. I testify on this in DC (NIH, NASEM, ANA, etc.)through my own company (Healing Healthcare Solutions) and (Legal Healthcare Solutions.) I am a Legal Nurse Consultant and Expert Witness.
WE HAVE DESIGNED A BANNER USING THE CHATRES LABYRINTH WHERE WE HAVE A PHOTO, NURSING SPECIALTY, DATE OF DEATH, AND FACILITY THAT THEY worked and this banner can be hung in the hospital chapel, entrance, or in the UNIT WHERE THE RN WORKED. I have contacted ambassadors and foreign dignitaries, LARGE CORPORATE CEOS OF MEDICAL EQUIPMENT to assist in finding our deceased Covid-19 nurses S on this project which will be worldwide. I am also a dual US and Swiss Citizen. I was born an ARMY BRAT to a Colonel and were posted in post-WWII France, Vietnam, and JAPAN. I have worked as an ICU, Trauma, ER, PACU, AND OR nurse and my second love is HOSPICE I worked as an ICU RN for TWO GULF WARS. Terri Roberts's father was an AF Pilot Colonel during Vietnam and she was posted in Okinawa with him.
MY FINAL GOAL IS TO HAVE A WALL IN DC TO HONOR EACH AND EVERY RN WHO DIED OF COVID-!0 THIS FAR EXCEEDS THE VIETNAM MEMORIAL OF 55,000 WHO DIED. WE THEN WILL BRANCH OUT TO HONOR THE PHYSICIANS, EMTs, FIREMEN, AND POLICE WHO DIED OF COVID -19 CARING FOR COVID -19 PATIENTS.
I LIVE OUTSIDE OF Philadelphia. I have worked at UCSF, Kaiser Opern Heart San Francisco, SHOCK TRAUMA BALTIMORE, JOHN HOPKINS, PENN, and many other hospitals in CA, MD, VA, PA, VT as well as internationally. I am the Chair of the Integrative Health Care Practices- Specialty Assembly part of the American Association of periOperative Nurses. I am a published author, and prior to nursing I was a textile and fashion designer worldwide for Fortune 500 Companies and I have my MA/MBA. I have taught at 5 colleges and AM PASSIONATE ABOUT MEDICINE /NURSING as well as teaching HOLISTIC MEDICINE TO ANYONE WHO WILL LISTEN TO ME!
Your work sounds important and needed. Thank you so much for this information. I wish you all the best in your efforts to honor nurses who died during the pandemic.
I think about this now more than ever. I had repressed a lot of Covid bedside nursing trauma. I had, in my mind, accepted all the people in my life who did not acknowledge the gravity nor heed the advice of experts in the mist of the pandemic. Now we are watching every extreme movement that disengages the public from health spiral out of control, again, to a more alarming extent. Witnessing the lack of concern, once again, is pouring gas on the fire within my nursing soul.
Hi Jessica. I am sorry you are feeling so burned out and burned up by extremist anti-science and anti-health care bias in the U.S. right now. It is hard see ignorance about health care and disease risk given such a large mega-phone and have all that owned by RFK, Jr as Secretary of HHS. If fanaticism worked as well as vaccines, I wouldn't care, but as you and I both know, it doesn't. I hate the thought that children are getting sick with the measles because their parents think that it is "better" for them than being vaccinated. Wish I had some words of wisdom to help put out that internal fire. I know your patients are lucky to have such a smart caring nurse. If feeling heard helps at all, then please know that I hear you. Hugs!
I had never thought about it before, but you are right that we as a culture have never officially and collectively mourned the pandemic—not just the loss of life, but also the terrible and traumatic burden it placed on healthcare workers and other essential workers. We all just kind of moved on, and now very few movies and books that are set in the present day even mention Covid at all. (An exception is Havoc, which I just started, and which is set in Egypt because that is the only country the narrator can enter because of travel restrictions.) Anyway, your column is making me think that a national day of recognition, especially for healthcare workers, would be an important step for us, not just in looking back at Covid, but also in planning or the next pandemic.
Speaking of which, among the many things that terrify me about RFK is his hostility to vaccines, and to mRNA vaccines in particular. If/when bird flu becomes a problem, our best hope for having vaccines available on a mass scale is mRNA technology.
I like your idea of a national day of recognition for the pandemic. I've been thinking a lot about rituals and how meaningful they can be. We honor veterans, as we should, and many health care workers felt like they were fighting a war during the pandemic. Acknowledging their pain as a country feels important.
I agree with you also about RFK. He's unpredictable and doesn't believe in science. That combination should be disqualifying for Head of HHS. We shall see what happens.
I would like to share with you that approximately 314,000 NURSES WORLDWIDE DIED CARING FOR COVID-19 PATIENTS. THE INTERNATIONAL COUNCIL OF NURSING ( ICN) HAS NOT DONE MUCH ABOUT THIS.
BUT I HAVE. In 2022 I and the American Holistic Nurses Association (AHNA) presented our PLAN TO HONOR NURSES WHO HAVE DIED OF COVID, SUICIDE AND VIOLENCE. I am the President, Terri Roberts, RN MA JB and I am forming a NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATION to fulfill our commitment to honor all NURSES WORLDWIDE. VIOLENCE describes the attack and killing of nurses in the ER ICU and mental Health facilities which have risen exponentially in the US and we believe in the world. We know that the suicide rate of nurses is increasing each year due to many factors but ALL RELATED TO OUR HOSPITALS, CLINICS NOT SUPPORTING NURSES with INADEQUATE STAFFING, INFECTION CONTROL AND A LACK OF ANA SPEAKING UP AND TAKING ACTION. I testify on this in DC (NIH, NASEM, ANA, etc.)through my own company (Healing Healthcare Solutions) and (Legal Healthcare Solutions.) I am a Legal Nurse Consultant and Expert Witness.
WE HAVE DESIGNED A BANNER USING THE CHATRES LABYRINTH WHERE WE HAVE A PHOTO, NURSING SPECIALTY, DATE OF DEATH, AND FACILITY THAT THEY worked and this banner can be hung in the hospital chapel, entrance, or in the UNIT WHERE THE RN WORKED. I have contacted ambassadors and foreign dignitaries, LARGE CORPORATE CEOS OF MEDICAL EQUIPMENT to assist in finding our deceased Covid-19 nurses S on this project which will be worldwide. I am also a dual US and Swiss Citizen. I was born an ARMY BRAT to a Colonel and were posted in post-WWII France, Vietnam, and JAPAN. I have worked as an ICU, Trauma, ER, PACU, AND OR nurse and my second love is HOSPICE I worked as an ICU RN for TWO GULF WARS. Terri Roberts's father was an AF Pilot Colonel during Vietnam and she was posted in Okinawa with him.
MY FINAL GOAL IS TO HAVE A WALL IN DC TO HONOR EACH AND EVERY RN WHO DIED OF COVID-!0 THIS FAR EXCEEDS THE VIETNAM MEMORIAL OF 55,000 WHO DIED. WE THEN WILL BRANCH OUT TO HONOR THE PHYSICIANS, EMTs, FIREMEN, AND POLICE WHO DIED OF COVID -19 CARING FOR COVID -19 PATIENTS.
YOU CAN CONTACT ME. marilyngerber@earthink.net (717) 503-5280.
I LIVE OUTSIDE OF Philadelphia. I have worked at UCSF, Kaiser Opern Heart San Francisco, SHOCK TRAUMA BALTIMORE, JOHN HOPKINS, PENN, and many other hospitals in CA, MD, VA, PA, VT as well as internationally. I am the Chair of the Integrative Health Care Practices- Specialty Assembly part of the American Association of periOperative Nurses. I am a published author, and prior to nursing I was a textile and fashion designer worldwide for Fortune 500 Companies and I have my MA/MBA. I have taught at 5 colleges and AM PASSIONATE ABOUT MEDICINE /NURSING as well as teaching HOLISTIC MEDICINE TO ANYONE WHO WILL LISTEN TO ME!
Your work sounds important and needed. Thank you so much for this information. I wish you all the best in your efforts to honor nurses who died during the pandemic.
I think about this now more than ever. I had repressed a lot of Covid bedside nursing trauma. I had, in my mind, accepted all the people in my life who did not acknowledge the gravity nor heed the advice of experts in the mist of the pandemic. Now we are watching every extreme movement that disengages the public from health spiral out of control, again, to a more alarming extent. Witnessing the lack of concern, once again, is pouring gas on the fire within my nursing soul.
Hi Jessica. I am sorry you are feeling so burned out and burned up by extremist anti-science and anti-health care bias in the U.S. right now. It is hard see ignorance about health care and disease risk given such a large mega-phone and have all that owned by RFK, Jr as Secretary of HHS. If fanaticism worked as well as vaccines, I wouldn't care, but as you and I both know, it doesn't. I hate the thought that children are getting sick with the measles because their parents think that it is "better" for them than being vaccinated. Wish I had some words of wisdom to help put out that internal fire. I know your patients are lucky to have such a smart caring nurse. If feeling heard helps at all, then please know that I hear you. Hugs!
Being heard helps more than you know 🫂
I am glad. Nursing is hard right now. If I can do even a little bit to make it easier, then I feel I have done a lot.
I had never thought about it before, but you are right that we as a culture have never officially and collectively mourned the pandemic—not just the loss of life, but also the terrible and traumatic burden it placed on healthcare workers and other essential workers. We all just kind of moved on, and now very few movies and books that are set in the present day even mention Covid at all. (An exception is Havoc, which I just started, and which is set in Egypt because that is the only country the narrator can enter because of travel restrictions.) Anyway, your column is making me think that a national day of recognition, especially for healthcare workers, would be an important step for us, not just in looking back at Covid, but also in planning or the next pandemic.
Speaking of which, among the many things that terrify me about RFK is his hostility to vaccines, and to mRNA vaccines in particular. If/when bird flu becomes a problem, our best hope for having vaccines available on a mass scale is mRNA technology.
I like your idea of a national day of recognition for the pandemic. I've been thinking a lot about rituals and how meaningful they can be. We honor veterans, as we should, and many health care workers felt like they were fighting a war during the pandemic. Acknowledging their pain as a country feels important.
I agree with you also about RFK. He's unpredictable and doesn't believe in science. That combination should be disqualifying for Head of HHS. We shall see what happens.