Protect a nurse. Wear a mask.
That’s the video message from a hundred nurses supporting President Biden’s request that Americans mask up for the next 100 days, to curb the coronavirus.
Morristown’s Donna Gaffney, an advanced practice nurse and psychotherapist, gathered photos of nurses from across the United States for the project, a joint effort of Nurses for Biden-Harris and Creatives 4 Democracy.
Video: “100 Days, 100 Nurses”:
“Nurses have each other’s backs—they welcome each other when they arrive at the beginning of the shift, hold each other after a patient dies, listen to each other vent and cry, and at the end of the shift, say good-bye with love and compassion,” said Gaffney.
“They have shown us that caring for each other and protecting each other is the most important thing we can do for each other and to rid the country of this pandemic,” she said.
Among President Biden’s first official acts were executive orders requiring masks be worn on federal properties, and on public transportation. He has urged all Americans to wear masks for the next 100 days to curb the spread of COVID-19.
“Do it for yourself, do it for your neighbor,” Biden said shortly after the election.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says masks are effective and can help avert future lockdowns, as millions await vaccination.
“If we all wear masks—together—we will get through this together!” said Gaffney, who created a series of webinars at Rutgers to help front-line medical workers cope with COVID-19.
FRONT-LINE DANGER
More than 20 nurses in New Jersey have died from the novel coronavirus, and the national number could approach 400, Gaffney said. Many of these nurses were memorialized on Facebook last week.
The Guardian puts the toll even higher. The newspaper has counted 3,248 COVID-related deaths of healthcare workers across the United States, including 260 in the Garden State. Nurses comprise about one-third of these fatalities nationwide–more than 1,000 lives, according to the paper.
Nurses from more than 25 states appear in the 100 Days, 100 Nurses video, set to Hero & The Sage, performed by Los Angeles singer-songwriter Tara Beier.
The idea began with Erin Hartnett, a pediatric nurse on the faculty at New York University, and an 11-nurse committee. Nurses for Biden-Harris issued a call on social media for photos of nurses wearing their masks.
Gaffney reached out to her daughter Lauren, a director/producer, who alerted Creatives 4 Democracy. Video editors from Philadelphia, Chicago and Los Angeles pitched in over the weekend before the inauguration, Gaffney said.
Nurses still can contribute their photos, for re-posting with the video.
Healthcare workers also can obtain free counseling, via the Emotional PPE Project and Virtual Schwartz Rounds of the New Jersey Nursing Initiative.
Gaffney’s next book is titled Radical Well-Being, Strategies and Stories for Survival. She has degrees from Rutgers, Columbia and the University of Pennsylvania, and is the author of The Seasons of Grief, Helping Children Grow Through Loss.
As a guest on The Morristown Green Podcast last fall, Gaffney shared COVID-themed tips for safely navigating the holidays and the bleak midwinter.
Living in a community and having the opportunity to interact with Donna and so many others is one of the best things about living in Morristown and demonstrates the advantage of keeping residential Morristown livable. Keeping our town a good place to live and work is the key to our future success.