Authors

  1. Peternelj-Taylor, Cindy RN, BScN, MSc, DF-IAFN

Article Content

By the time this editorial goes to print, a year will have passed since the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic, and what a year it was! Since then, our personal and professional lives have forever changed. I am not sure any of us could have imagined the extent of the challenges the year would bring. Like many of you, I was more than happy to close the door to 2020, and for the first time as a family, we embraced an old Irish New Year's tradition. At midnight, we opened the back door of our home to "let the Old year out" and opened the front door to "let the New Year in" (http://bitesize.irish). The moment was somewhat surreal, as I was overcome with hope and optimism, as I thought about the promise of a postpandemic reality. My optimism however was short lived-ever cognizant of the devastating consequences of the pandemic experienced globally, continually reinforced by the harsh realities invading our social media sites, and broadcasted daily on the evening news. In short, it was an unprecedented rollercoaster year, one described by scholars and politicians alike as a triple pandemic on a global scale-COVID-19, economic turmoil, and social injustices.

 

In writing this editorial, I reached out to Editorial Board members of the Journal of Forensic Nursing and asked them about their hopes and dreams for 2021 and a postpandemic world. I have included some of their sage insights in this editorial in hopes that their words and ideas will invite you to consider your own hopes and dreams for a postpandemic future.

 

As a forensic nurse, I hope the mystery of why violence and abuse continue to be tolerated and overlooked by health care and legal systems will also be addressed. The most vulnerable people should not have to be the ones to call for action on this, and yet it is most often through social movements like #MeToo, #BlackLivesMatter, and #SayHerName-where those who suffer most cry out for relief and justice-that these issues are raised. It is incumbent upon us as nurses, as forensic nurses, and as the most trusted profession, to stand for those who are most at risk, and to stand against those who would continue to intensify that risk.

 

COVID-19 has certainly changed nursing forever. Yet, as I look with promise to the future, I am humbled by the resiliency, perseverance, tenacity, and flexibility forensic nurses have shown as they have adapted to a constantly changing landscape, often fraught with political animosity, civil unrest, constantly changing public health orders and restrictions, and outright exhaustion. Forensic nurses have always championed equity, diversity, and inclusion, and perhaps now more than ever, we will need to reaffirm our commitment and action to these values in our postpandemic world.

 

I sincerely hope that the health inequities that were amplified by the COVID-19 pandemic will finally be given the attention (and resources) they deserve, and that as a country, we make a commitment, to reinvest in the public health infrastructure.

 

The challenge will be knowing how to capitalize on the postpandemic recovery and keep the conversation going or, in some cases, knowing how to start the conversation in the first place. The importance of interdisciplinary and intersectoral collaboration is imperative, as is engaging those who fail to understand the cumulative impact of marginalization, oppression, racism, violence, and stigma. In mobilizing resources, we must be unwavering in our challenge of institutions that are indifferent to the violence that so many people encounter in their daily lives. As forensic nurses, we need to stand for, and with, those who are at the greatest risk as we continue to "mitigate the negative impacts of this triple pandemic."

 

Change will be our constant companion as we navigate the coming months, where every day, we are faced with a new reality. Will we see fundamental changes in the way forensic nurses practice? Work with each other? Work with other disciplines? "Will forensic nursing's scope of practice be broadened?" What postpandemic forensic nursing looks like will vary depending on where one lives in the world and the distinct specialty of forensic nursing one aligns with.

 

As nurses, and forensic nurses, we know that we have shaped the health of the world, long before COVID-19 consumed our daily vocabulary, and we know that we will be there long after the pandemic is a distant memory. When I look back to March 2020, I admit I naively thought that, by this point in time, everything would be as it once was. I personally long for the day when we can sit around with our friends, families, and colleagues and wonder aloud-"Do you remember when?" Until that time, let us hold onto those things that keep us grounded emotionally and spiritually-"the importance of family, friends, and human connection." Let us also remember the important role of health promotion and illness prevention-"as we look after ourselves, our colleagues, our loved ones, and our communities, with renewed attention to the prevention of burnout and vicarious trauma." One final hope for 2021-"world peace."

 

Acknowledgments

Thank you to Editorial Board Members Drs. Candace Burton, Alison Colbert, Stacy Drake, and Carolyn Porta for sharing their words of wisdom with me as I prepared this editorial.