RIVERLAND nurses are being celebrated – along with workers in their field across the globe – as part of International Nurses Day.
Nurses have always been on the front line of the world’s health issues, but their invaluable contribution has been apparent now more than ever during the coronavirus crisis.
Australians took time yesterday to celebrate International Nurses Day and reflect on the service nurses bring to the community, often without recognition and at the expense of their own wellbeing.
However, since the global pandemic erupted two months ago, registered nurses at the Riverland General Hospital Christine (Kiki) Dowling and Patty Allen said they believed people had become more appreciative of the role nurses play in our communities.
“It was interesting to begin with because we would get free lunches and coffees, and dinner would be sent in to us,” said Mrs Allen, who has been in the field for more than 40 years.
“I thought it was a really nice appreciation of what the community thought we were doing.
“People did get a bit upset about it saying the homeless needed it, but we’re just as mentally affected wondering if we’re going to be infected and taking (the coronavirus) home to our families as what anyone else would.
“It was a bit stressful because we didn’t know what was going to happen, but it was a real morale booster to think that people were thinking of us.”
Mrs Allen said in the beginning she would have people staring or making snarky remarks about potentially spreading the virus when she would walk down the street in her uniform.
However, Mrs Dowling said those incidents fizzled out as quickly as it came.
“They could see what we were trying to do compared to the negative side,” she said.
“I’ve had family interstate, so they were sending me messages, and asking if I was alright and how I was dealing with all of this.
“I think the public do appreciate everything we do, but I think it’s made it a little bit more out there.
“We’re doing everything we can to protect not only us, but the public as well.”
Mrs Dowling and Mrs Allen both said the coronavirus had provided its challenges for the health sector, but the Riverland has been lucky to remain relatively unaffected by the illness.
“I think in the Riverland, we’ve been very lucky we’ve stayed away from it,” Mrs Dowling said.
“I think if we were in Adelaide or a different state, it would be a different story.
“We are lucky here that people are a little more conscious.”
Mrs Dowling and Mrs Allen both hoped the coronavirus had shown not only the importance of nursing, but the importance of hygiene.
“It has been interesting to see how people have taken on this isolation, and maybe how it’s helped our society with infections,” Mrs Allen said.
“We’re cleaner, I think we’re washing our hands a lot more, and people are very aware of coughing into their arms and things like that.
“I think it has educated people so hopefully it means it’s not going to come back.”
Mrs Dowling said nurses and doctors, not just in the Riverland, but everywhere, were doing an “extremely good” job, and the pair were lucky to be a part of that team.
“It’s not easy because you leave your families and you come here, so I think good on nurses for being there for everybody,” she said.
“I love my job, and I don’t know what I’d do if I wasn’t working, that’s for sure.
“This is what we chose and I wouldn’t change it for the world.”