As I sit here writing this editorial on Christmas Eve, 2021, I find myself thinking about all of our NAON nurses who continue to work the front lines in hospitals, ambulatory surgery centers, clinics, home health, and other settings. Those of you who are continuing to do what nurses do best ... care for patients who need us. You may not work on a "COVID unit," but you are still working in a health system that is struggling right now to keep caring for all. Increasing patient volumes again and rising illness in peers requiring each to do just a little bit more. You step up and push forward!
I think we all expected this pandemic to be over by now. Last year at this time, we were anxiously waiting for the rollout of the vaccine, and it couldn't happen fast enough for most. We were hopeful and confident that the vaccine would take care of the problem. Now we sit here 1 year later with approximately 72.4% of eligible Americans with at least one dosage administered (CDC, December 17, 2021). That is great news; however, there is still 27.6% of the population that is not vaccinated. Now we have the new variants popping up, with the most recent one being Omicron. Omicron appears to be much more virulent, thus easier to contract for the unvaccinated population. Even the vaccinated are testing positive for COVID now. There will be more patients to care for, with staff, despite vaccination, are contracting the new COVID variant. So, we continue the fight. My admiration for each of you is limitless!
Learning to coexist with COVID may be what we will need to do. There is still much to learn.
But the time has come to try and return ourselves to some semblance of normality. To be able to be resilient, we must also take time to renew ourselves whether it be in our personal lives or professional lives. For me, it is putting down my cell phone and closing out my email for a couple of hours in the evening to just breathe and relax. It doesn't always happen, but I am trying.
I know for myself I have made it a goal to join other NAON nurses at our annual Congress in Reno, NV, from May 21 to 24, 2022. I am hopeful that we can once again be together. I cannot wait to see my friends and colleagues. In addition, I cannot wait to meet new NAON members too. I want to talk to you about your ideas for the journal. What would you like to see us do differently? What do you like about the journal? Bring your ideas to Reno so we can discuss them.
I hope that 2022 allows you to return to the things that boost that spark and practice excellence that you are known for. Stay well and see you in Reno!
Reference