COVID-19: when will we return to some sort of normality?
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COVID-19: when will we return to some sort of normality?

Carli Whittaker Consultant editor, Nursing Children and Young People

Winter, with its seasonal respiratory viruses, school holiday staffing, and the effect of long, cold nights, is always a challenging time for children’s nurses. This year there is the added pressure of COVID-19 pandemic fatigue experienced by the public, who want normality to return. It is also experienced by those working on the front line with children and young people.

Nursing Children and Young People. 33, 1, 5-5. doi: 10.7748/ncyp.33.1.5.s1

Published: 07 January 2021

There may be sunshine at the end of this long winter, however, with optimism about the new vaccines for COVID-19. But, in the interim, the pandemic remains with us and nurses must continue to deliver high-quality care to children and young people, and their families.

As nurses we are tired. We no longer receive weekly applause or thanks, and some families face shielding, job losses, furloughing and potential tax increases to offset the financial burden the pandemic has placed on the NHS.

Children’s nurses want to think positively about future normality, when families and friends can gather in groups of more than six, and when they can take holidays or eat out.

But we must remain concerned about personal protective equipment supplies, the science of the pandemic and safer staffing levels, as well as what we face day by day. All of this affects us as we try to provide the outstanding quality care that children and families need.

New vaccines give us some sunshine to look forward to, but they also raise questions: will it be suitable for children and young people, and where do they factor into the national vaccination programme?

The long-term effects of tier systems, lockdowns and restrictions on children and young people have yet to be fully discussed. Lessons have been learned, but as we move out of winter to see a potential end to the pandemic, continuing to learn and evolve will be vital.

‘New vaccines give us some sunshine to look forward to, but they also raise questions’

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