What an extraordinary, roller coaster of a year! What makes me proud to be a nurse is that when the going gets tough, the tough get going!
We rolled up our sleeves and went wherever we were needed. Our team found themselves being redeployed to Infection Prevention, Vaccine Hubs, Inpatient wards and COVID-19 testing sites. We were dealing with many unknowns, shifting goal posts, often working completely outside of our comfort zones and on top of this, trying to deal with our own fears about contracting the virus and protecting our families. This year has highlighted the amazing work that nurses do, but also the whole of the NHS family.
COVID has also shown the importance of research in helping in the fight against this pandemic. It has been an incredibly exciting time to be a Research Nurse and we are very proud to be contributing to the global challenge of understanding, treating and preventing the Coronavirus. I am hoping the interest in research will continue post-pandemic and more nurses will consider research nursing as a career in the future.