The ‘always amazing’ efforts of nurses at Ryman Healthcare, have been acknowledged and applauded during the intense and ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
Each year, on International Nurses Day, we thank our nursing staff and our residents who were nurses, for their selfless dedication to their work.
Our fantastic Ryman nurses will be fussed over today with morning teas, special treats and good wishes in our villages.
It is a day when some of Ryman’s finest, including the likes of Anthony Wilding Clinical Manager Jeannie Sales and Woodcote Clinical Manager Cassie Scaife, stand proud. May 12 is also the anniversary of Florence Nightingale's birth, and its significance is celebrated around the world.
Cassie was Ryman's Nurse of the Year in 2020.
International Nurses Day has a different theme each year. The theme for 2022 is Nurses: A Voice to Lead – Invest in nursing and respect rights to secure global health.
Jeannie says that the COVID-19 pandemic has been difficult, but nurses have rallied as the waves of infection have hit the community.
Nurses and carers have worked long hours, educated themselves about COVID-19 and adapted to changing conditions and supported our residents and their families during incredibly difficult times.
“We can look at the Ryman response to the COVID pandemic, with the vaccination teams, and we actually stood up and led the way. And that’s what nurses do… not just those in clinical management type roles, but all nurses,” Jeannie says.
“They were quite happy to do the education required (in order to vaccinate residents under health guidelines) and actually lead the way in ensuring safe vaccination for our population.”
The nurses showed real leadership by delivering “the goods”, and also led the control response when there were infections in villages, Jeannie adds.
They have been backed by Ryman’s operations team, in helping provide care and putting COVID safety controls in place.
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Cassie says the COVID pandemic has highlighted the lengths nurses go to, to look after the wellbeing of village residents.
Nurses day is an emotional day for nurses who have over recent years gone to additional lengths to care for our residents and their families, look after them, keep them safe and keep the team morale high, Cassie says.
Nurses are at the forefront, she says. They implement best practice infection prevention and control measures during outbreaks while also looking out for residents mental and social wellbeing, as well as their sometimes complex physical health needs.
“The skill, compassion and perseverance of our Ryman nurses really is outstanding. The way the nurses work as a team in an always changing environment and look after one another is an absolute pleasure to watch and be part of,” Cassie says.
“I always think we are very lucky to be doing the job we do.”
The ‘Nurses: A Voice to Lead’ theme for International Nurses Day focuses on the need to protect, support, and invest in the nursing profession to strengthen health systems around the world.
It has been abundantly clear in the extraordinary times of COVID-19 that our Ryman nurses and their expertise, kindness, and patience have never been more important.
