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AUGUSTA — Jennifer Riggs, chief nursing officer of MaineGeneral Health, expresses gratitude in the message below to the more than 1,500 nursing staff of MaineGeneral Health. These professionals include nurses, certified nursing assistants and advanced practice nurses. They have served during the pandemic in acute care, long term care, outpatient practices, home care and hospice and behavioral health.
Long before we heard the word COVID-19, we knew MaineGeneral nurses were exceptional and up for any challenge. The novel coronavirus created turmoil across the globe, bringing with it shortages of supplies and PPE, an onslaught of patients needing care and unprecedented risk to nurses – our health care heroes. Not surprisingly, our nurses have more than risen to the challenge, as they have everywhere.
Every day nurses mask up – not to mention wearing eye protection, gloves and gowns and N95s – for 12-hour stretches! They remained flexible and nimble as we learned more about the virus, adapting to new protocols, equipment and ever-changing processes. They filled in wherever they were needed, working long shifts and serving as selfless examples of leadership in truly extraordinary times.
There is no way to fully express gratitude for everything nurses have done for our patients and our community. Nurses are present in the lives of our loved ones from birth to death – bringing new life into the world and helping our dying patients and their families pass with dignity.
Our community has stood by you, and appreciates what you’ve been through this year. We have received countless sentiments from these community members, many of which read like this from a patient’s grateful family member:
“Thank you for being there during the most difficult times – during devastating diagnoses, pain and suffering and end of life. You are there when patients are at their most vulnerable.”
And from this patient:
“The nurses and CNAs who cared for me were truly where they were meant to be. They were my angels and I could not have gotten through my illness and healing journey without them.”
Importantly, your work this year also is inspiring the next generation of nurses. One current nursing student wrote:
“Watching the nurses caring for my grandmother made me want to be a nurse. From the emergency department to the critical care unit, to the medical-surgical unit and then home with Hospice, they were amazing. I’m in nursing school now and hope to work at MaineGeneral when I am done.”
To nurses at MaineGeneral and everywhere: Thank you for choosing nursing as your calling. It is more than a profession, especially this year where you had to give more of yourselves and less to yourselves and your families.
Thank you for all you have given and for honoring our patients’ lives with your grace!
