Thank a nurse, Oshawa
In Ontario alone, there are more than 100,000 registered nurses celebrating national nursing week.
When most people think of healthcare workers, their mind immediately runs to doctors, forgetting the nurses who are quite often the frontline in the healthcare world.
These healthcare professionals, while maintaining a working knowledge of medicine, will also find themselves working more than 12 hour days, and will, on average, spend almost an extra hour at work every day just to keep up.
They are unsung heroes who, at times, feel forgotten.
However, many nurses have stepped up during the current COVID-19 driven climate.
As the pandemic has spread across the world, and even into Oshawa, nurses have remained on the frontlines, battling the virus and working to keep everyone as safe as possible, all while putting their own lives at risk.
At the time of writing, there have been 1,167 cases of COVID-19 in Durham Region, 192 of which are in Oshawa. Of those cases in Durham, 149 have lost their lives.
Nurses have been some of the first to bear witness to the tragedies of COVID-19, and have had the weight of the world thrust upon their shoulders because of it.
Like many healthcare professionals, they have been forced to social distance and self-isolate in a manner which may keep them from their families – and they’re doing this to help others.
Nurses are the ones who help us at our weakest moments in life. They take care of us while we are in hospital; they take care of our loved ones as well.
It’s nurses who often take care of our elderly as they get older and may not be able to take care of themselves.
In the end, after everything they’ve done for us, everyone should thank a nurse.
The Oshawa Express would like to thank the nurses for the work they do, especially during this trying time. Happy National Nursing Week.