Nurses' Day and what it means to be nurse during COVID-19
Yusef Jalali
Press TV, Tehran
Iran is marking the National Nurses' Day.
This year, the occasion is a chance for nurses to speak of their everyday stories of stress and hope amid their tireless fight against the coronavirus pandemic.
This year, however, the occasion is marked with a new awareness among the public and officials as nurses, along with other health workers, take the front line in the fight against the deadly coronavirus pandemic.
For hospital nurses, life under the coronavirus conditions has been a slog of precautions, fear and duty. For those working at Masih Daneshvari hospital in northern Tehran, stories of busy shifts and delayed family visits are more frequent, since the hospital has been at the epicenter of the fight against the pandemic in the capital Tehran.
Now that it's an occasion to honor this army of dedicated nurses, they have a chance to speak of their pains and prides.
There are some 140,000 nurses in Iran. More than 60,000 of them have so far caught the virus on duty. As COVID-19 has sapped the nation’s reserves of nurses and doctors, these dedicated professionals have had to work extra shifts to make up for the shortage of staff.
With good news about vaccines offering hopes for the future, it's the present that worries exhausted nurses. Alert levels go up and down, but one thing doesn't change for nurses; fear of bringing the virus home.
National Nurses Day in Iran marks the birth anniversary of Hazrat Zeinab, the sister of Imam Hussein, the 3rd Shia Imam. This year, the occasion is marked with a special slogan: Heartbeat of nurses, Pulse of society’s health. This could be a reminder of how nurses deserve more support and investment.
Over 100 nurses have so far died of COVID-19 in Iran. They didn't get infected because they weren't wearing masks. Their failure to stay at home didn't cause their deadly illness, either. They died because they were trying to save lives.
Now as the virus is yet to leave the battleground, nurses here say there's only one way to honor their sacrifice: Stay home.
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