The World Health Organization designated 2020 as the International Year of the Nurse and Midwife, in honor of the 200th anniversary of Florence Nightingale's birth.
As we look back on 2020, the compassion, strength and resilience demonstrated by our nurses at Penn Medicine Lancaster General Health shine brightly.
We asked nurses to reflect on this extraordinary year in nursing. Here is what they said:
“Nursing in 2020 reminded me that nurses are strong and resilient. We can take any situation and make the best of it. We kept fighting for what we believe in: our patients, our families, and our community."
Claire Esche MSN, RN, RN-BC, Chair, Professional Advancement and Engagement Council (PAEC)
“2020 has been an extraordinary year. By far, it has been one of the most challenging ones I have ever encountered, but it also revealed strengths of staff, the depths of which no one really knew existed. As tough as it has been, it also provided an opportunity to recognize and appreciate people and things we otherwise would have taken for granted.”
Mary Bassalin, nurse manager, 8 North
“Nursing in 2020 is all about resilience and flexibility! Although our commitment to provide excellent care to our patients is the same, the climate is constantly changing.”
Kate Stroh, RN, 6L Intensive Care Unit
“We watched our nurses courageously step forward and embrace caring for our infected COVID-19 patients at a time when standard clinical care practices had not been established and a cure was not available. Our nurses consistently demonstrated professional, collegial, interdisciplinary clinical care; compassion; agility; resilience; and hope. A tough time, of course, but a fulfilling moment for the value and contributions that nursing makes in health care at LGH and the world at large.”
Larry Strassner, PhD, MSN, RN, FACHE, chief nursing officer