With the burden on medical workers rising amid the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak, reinforcements have been strapping on uniforms they left behind weeks, months, or even years ago.
Across the country, retired nurses are answering the call to return to the front lines.
鈥淲e鈥檇 had, in fact, multiple calls today from retired nurses, retired health care workers in various sectors,鈥 Mark Joffe, an infectious disease specialist in Alberta, told 麻豆影视. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e calling in saying, 鈥榃hat can we do, can we come in and help.鈥欌
Nurse Della O鈥橬eill is among thousands putting up their hands to come out of retirement.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a sign of the times,鈥 O鈥橬eill said. 鈥淚 just think it is all hands on deck.鈥
Although the work is hard and the hours are long, O鈥橬eill believes a nurse will never truly 鈥渓ose that calling, even if you retire or change professions.
鈥淚f I can go back and help in some capacity, then that is great.鈥
Workers coming out of retirement could be manning health phone lines in Ontario or helping out with hospital rounds in Nova Scotia -- help is needed all over the country.
鈥淭his is what nurses do,鈥 said Claire Betker. 鈥淭hey respond, go where they are needed to go.鈥
In Quebec alone, around 10,000 retired health care workers responded to the call for aid. It鈥檚 a gesture that had Premier Francois Legault saying he was proud to be Quebecois in a press conference Monday.
Some retired health care workers, like Corazon Abdon, who is nearly 70 years old, are unable to return to work because they鈥檙e part of a demographic that is vulnerable to COVID-19.
But she told 麻豆影视 that she hopes to find a way to help nonetheless.
鈥淢y motive is to help people,鈥 she said. 鈥淚 love helping and taking care of people, that is my main purpose 鈥 I have to help them.鈥
Coincidentally, long before the virus had become a pandemic and the vital role of health care workers had been emphasized by the crisis, the World Health Organization had designated 2020 as the Year of the Nurse.
In December of 2019, they warned that there could be a worldwide shortfall of nine million nurses and midwives by 2030, and said that the contributions of nurses needed to be acknowledged more.
In a , the International Council of Nurses鈥 Chief Executive Officer Howard Catton said 鈥淲HO鈥檚 vision of improved global health will only become a reality if there is a massive investment in nursing. The research evidence is clear: having more nurses leads to better health outcomes.鈥
It鈥檚 a message that rings even more strongly in the midst of an outbreak.
