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Photo: Medical Writing Carissa Etienne, director of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), urged countries to urgently increase investments to improve and protect the nursing workforce. This means
Carissa Etienne, director of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), urged countries to urgently increase investments to improve and protect the nursing workforce. This means that since last week, covid-19 cases and hospitalizations in America have increased by 12.7% again.
“Across the Americas, nurses bravely faced the worst of the pandemic. Many struggled with burnout and mental health conditions. Some have moved to another field and others have left the profession altogether,” the PAHO Director said at a news conference Wednesday.
He added that nurses are the backbone of health personnel, especially during the pandemic period. It represents 56% of professionals and provides primary care, mental health support, and safeguards the well-being of individuals, communities and families.
May 12 International Day of Nurses and Nurses is celebrated. With this in mind, Dr. Etienne thanked nurses for playing a fundamental role in the care of covid-19 patients.
He also congratulated them for their role in the distribution of 1.8 billion doses of COVID-19 vaccine in the region.
“Today, nurses and nurses shoulder the double burden of both caring for covid-19 patients and helping those who have not undergone routine health checkups in the last two years,” the PAHO Director said in a statement.
However, he said there is an estimated 1.8 million shortfall in these personnel by 2030 in the Americas region.
“This is why it’s so important that we double down on our investments in growing our nursing workforce. Let’s take care of the existing nurses and nurses so that they will continue to take care of us,” he said.
Etienne urged countries to implement clear policies to improve and retain their health workforce. He spoke of the need for adequate compensation; as well as the development of senior leadership opportunities.
Likewise, he thought that the mental health of nurses should also be supported.
He noted that a study of Covid-19 and PAHO healthcare workers showed that almost a quarter of professionals interviewed in 2020 had symptoms of a depressive episode.
In this context, he stated that some countries have addressed this issue by establishing mental health services and hotlines.
On the other hand, he reported that PAHO has also developed a self-care course specifically for healthcare professionals.
Likewise, on Friday, May 6, a High-Level Mental Health and Covid-19 Commission will be launched to more closely examine the impact of the pandemic on mental health in America.
About the current situation of covid-19 in the region, Etienne said that more than 616,000 new cases and more than 4,200 deaths were reported in the Americas last week.
In the Caribbean, new infections increased by 15.4% and deaths for the third consecutive week (39.6%).
At the same time, deaths continued to decline in Central America, while the number of new infections rose 53.4%.
Regarding North America, he explained that cases rose 27.1% in the United States, while Canada and Mexico reported a decrease in new infections.
Finally, there was an overall 8% decrease in cases in South America, although new infections increased in seven countries.
Source: El Nacional
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