Nurses – a Tale of Healthcare Heroes
Nurses all over the world are celebrated for their commitment to saving lives, however, are they truly reaping the rewards of which they sew? In this article I will be exploring the personal experiences of nurses working in the NHS and how their journey in the healthcare has had an impact on their personal wellbeing.
The NHS (National Health Service) was founded by Aneurin Bevan on 5 July 1948 after World War 2 to introduce the public to a wellness program that could benefit people of all classes and backgrounds, although that is not to say inclusivity came easy, as women were only just being granted permission to work after the war. As well as this, there was a boom in the population of immigrants in the UK after the war thanks to the 1948 British Nationality Act that granted all commonwealth citizens the right to a British Citizenship. This allowed people of colour to be given opportunities to be a part of the workforce of the UK, however they still faced backlash for their ethnicities, which our modern-day society fights to change.
I had spoken with a senior staff nurse from Croydon University Hospital who shared her experience of working in the healthcare scene for over 20 years and the treatment she received as a woman of colour in a predominantly white field of work. She expressed that she had many hardships working as a nurse however she shared with me a heartfelt message in which she said, “watching your patients go home with their health intact and a smile on their face makes the job worth everything.” She also disclosed with me a serious act of discrimination that she experienced while serving a patient. Her account stated that, “I greeted my patient good morning and introduced myself as her nurse for the day. As I was about to administer her medications she said to me, “I don’t want to be looked after you because you’re Asian and you’ll give me COVID,” yet I knew that all I could do was serve her, she was my patient after all.”
After the many obstacles she faced, this selfless nurse and many others still strive to better the health of those around them. Statistics such as the GOV.UK NHS workforce figures that state that 74.3% of nurses are white, and salary figures from a 2013 data recording from The Royal College of Nursing, that state that the average salary per year was at an all time low of £21,000, further emphasise the mistreatment of nurses in the healthcare industry. This, however, does not have to be permanent, as many events are being set in place to commemorate the immense efforts that they put into saving lives, such as National Nurses Week, in which people can attend lectures and expand their knowledge of nursing. Next time you visit your local hospital, make sure to acknowledge the work not only doctors, but nurses put in too.
