Since it began over 18 months ago, the pandemic has changed our way of life. Economically, socially, and physically we've altered how we manage everything-work, education, shopping, social gatherings, and healthcare. The events and circumstances surrounding public health have created stronger bonds among us, and great divides in public opinion. Healthcare has been caught in the middle of a storm of politics, emotions, religion, and science. Healthcare workers at every level have been torn between personal safety, family needs, and their calling. The fallout from vaccine mandates and staffing turnover has organizations scrambling to ensure patient and staff safety. Healthcare workers are leaving acute care at alarming rates.
Nursing as a profession has always shown resilience in the face of adversity. Nurses, as with all healthcare professionals, have displayed time and again the ability to recover and forge ahead no matter the obstacle in front of them. This issue's Wellness Mention column is on resilience (see page 6). Please take the opportunity to explore the article as we're called on to be resilient now more than ever.
In addition to the need for unwavering resilience, the other challenge facing healthcare providers is equity and equal distribution of care. The pandemic and the public health crisis it created have highlighted severe inequity, shining a light on the discrepancies in affordable and reliable healthcare. There's a sharp contrast in patient outcomes that can be seen in hospitalizations, vaccination rates, and mortality. Mental health concerns have been accentuated, with increases in complications from substance abuse, suicide attempts, and depression, some of which are due to isolation and the inability to access providers for face-to-face interventions. This issue also has a feature article that discusses the prevalence of depression in African American women and the problems caused by care inequity (see page 22).
Remember, you aren't alone; your peers across the country are struggling along with you. Reach out to each other, look toward your professional organizations for guidance, and know that it's okay to not feel okay. It isn't okay to not ask for help. Use your inner resilience to manage yourself and support others. My hope is that this will get better; things will change; and we'll come through wiser, more resilient, and more unified than ever before