Citation

Chen SL. Hu Li Za Zhi 2020; 67(6): 4-5.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2020, Nurses' Association of the Republic of China)

DOI

10.6224/JN.202012_67(6).01

PMID

33274419

Abstract

We remain in the midst of the global COVID-19 epidemic. As of November 11th, 2020, cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed in 189 countries/regions around the world, with a total of 51,510,611 confirmed cases and more than 1,275,211 deaths, with a global fatality rate of 2.48% (Taiwan Centers for Disease Control, Ministry of Health and Welfare, ROC, 2020b). Therefore, countries are facing lockdown crises and their populations face daily lives full of chaos, anxiety, and reorganization. The characteristics of this epidemic are most often described as "unprecedented" and replete with "uncertainty" (Davidson et al., 2020). In order to prevent the spread of this virus, health measures such as quarantine, wearing protective masks, and enforced lockdowns have been adopted by governments around the world, producing psychosocial (emotional distress, anxiety, suicide) and economic side-effects (Lima et al., 2020; Montemurro, 2020). Despite its close geographical proximity to China, Taiwan's number of confirmed infections has been relatively small (584 people diagnosed as of November 11th, with 7 total COVID-19-related fatalities; Taiwan Centers for Disease Control, Ministry of Health and Welfare, ROC, 2020b). Taiwan's tragic experience 17 years ago with the SARS epidemic helped prepare the government to respond rapidly to the COVID-19 threat, make thorough preparations and advanced deployments, and formulate relevant anti-epidemic border control measures, quarantine and isolation measures, mask-wearing requirements, and public education strategies. Actions such as mask wearing, washing hands frequently, and practicing proper social distancing by the public and the government maintaining a master travel history, occupation, contact history, and cluster (TOCC) database have proven effective in detecting and diagnosing cases early (Taiwan Centers for Disease Control, Ministry of Health and Welfare, ROC, 2020a; Yang et al., 2020). Furthermore, providing first-line personnel with appropriate protective equipment, education, and training as well as timely and transparent information and epidemic prevention guidelines have kept nurses supplied with appropriate personal protective equipment, infection-prevention and control education, training and exercises, and sufficient professional knowledge and skills to provide care safely to patients (Chen et al., 2020; Huang & Chen, 2020; Yang et al., 2020). Concurrently, it has been a challenge to nursing educators regarding how to suspend classes while not stopping academic education and to plan meaningful, alternative clinical experiences during the pandemic (Morin, 2020) and how to redefine and evaluate student performance to maintain teaching quality and learning effectiveness. In addition, "disaster nursing" is a critical area of professional knowledge for nurses in the 21st century, and all nurses should have an appropriate level of competence in professional disaster nursing. Therefore, core concepts related to infection control, disasters, and disaster preparedness should be incorporated into the curriculum and objectives. Finally, although we in Taiwan have faced the COVID-19 challenge in an environment in which the pandemic risk has been relatively well controlled, our daily lives are no longer taken for granted. When we look back on this experience, what will we learn from these experiences and how will this experience change how we approach healthcare and pandemic threats in the future? These changes will bring us more thoughts and challenges in nursing.

Language: zh

Keywords

Betacoronavirus; China; Coronavirus Infections; COVID-19; Humans; Nursing; Pandemics; Pneumonia, Viral; SARS-CoV-2; Taiwan