Nursing’s contributions to improving the public’s health during times of pandemic date back to the days of Nightingale, modern nursing’s founder. In 1918 during the disastrous influenza pandemic, nurses were steadfast in modelling the teachings of Nightingale, a staunch supporter of excellent handwashing, proper sanitation and sound preventive measures. They made home nursing to patients providing critical medical care together with the sole treatment measures available during that point in time. Nurses those days were vigilant in promoting the advantages of being exposed to fresh air, practising good hand hygiene and maintaining social isolation while conducting home nursing to patients.

In subsequent decades this has not changed, nurses serving as battle frontiers during a number of the world’s most up-to-date communicable disease outbreaks, including H1N1 swine influenza, Ebola, SARS, and MERS.

Even in this current ongoing pandemic, nurses across the world are stepping up to combat the deadly spread of COVID-19, a virulent global outbreak that has produced staggering numbers of cases and deaths. From providing direct care to affected hospitalized patients to leading full-scale public health operations, nurses are front and center in working round the clock to guard the health and well-being of patients and therefore the public at large. While they are our most valuable asset during any global health crisis, they're not exempt from experiencing unintended consequences like exposure to the virus or psychological and physical breakdowns. 

Home nursing and caretending 

In the present scenario where all the hospitals are full and are overwhelmed by the growing number of cases each day, the new normal has become caretending and nursing at home. Elderly who have been affected and cannot travel to hospitals for their treatment are dependent on caretenders at home. Nurses play an important role here because they are well equipped to face the virus while being protected whereas normal home caretakers within a family are much prone to be infected by the virus. This type of nursing is also intended for patients who are well enough to be discharged home but still require skilled nursing personnel to assess and oversee nursing interventions. Visit 60plusindia to book the best home nursing services for elderly.