Thank nurses for protecting Kiwis from COVID-19

Nurses deserve to be recognised and thanked by the public as Auckland moves to alert level 2 from 11:59 pm tonight while the rest of the country is now on alert level 1.

“Thousands of nurses in Community Based Assessment Centres (CBACs) and Managed Isolation and Quarantine Facilities (MIQFs) deserve the appreciation of the public for their great job in keeping New Zealand safe from COVID-19.” says Monina Hernandez, nursing leader and front line Clinical Nurse Specialist for infection prevention and control.

“We have hundreds of nurses in CBACs testing the public for COVID-19 every day. We have hundreds of nurses in MIQFs putting their own health on the line to assess the health and wellbeing of returnees at the border and to identify who has COVID-19. Without their important contribution, New Zealand would not have been so successful in stamping out COVID-19.”

The New Zealand government responded to the global COVID-19 pandemic with a range of measures to prevent and limit spread. This included requiring all people entering New Zealand to stay in MIQFs for at least 14 days, complete a health assessment and return negative COVID-19 tests before release.

“Nurses play a vital role in government’s response to the global COVID-19 pandemic, proof that nurses are the backbone of the New Zealand health care system. Recognising nurses’ significant contribution in keeping us safe is timely, as the International Year of the Nurse and Midwife comes to a close.” Ms Hernandez added.

The World Health Organization designated 2020 as the Year of the Nurse and Midwife in recognition of the contribution nurses make and the risks associated with nursing shortages around the world.

BIO

Monina Hernandez is a frontline Clinical Nurse Specialist for infection prevention and control, an author, and a lecturer and doctoral student at Massey University. She is a member of the Nursing Council of New Zealand, the authority responsible for upholding standards of nursing care, and recent past director of the New Zealand Nurses’ Organisation.

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