Unrecognised roles of nursing professionals and midwives in mitigating COVID-19 pandemic across all spectrum of continuum of care

Abstract

Every year, the World Health Organization (WHO) celebrates World Health Day on 7th April marking the foundation day of the WHO in 1948. The theme for the year 2020 is 'Support Nurses and Midwives' to mark Florence Nightingale's bicentennial year. Globally, the nurses and midwives comprise more than 50% of the health-care workforce. They are one of the important health human resources needed to achieve the Sustainable Development Goal on health and well-being by 2030. The services include promotive, preventive, curative and rehabilitative health-care services covering the whole spectrum in the continuum of care. The midwives primarily provide the primary health-care services primarily at community level. Similarly, various cadres of nurses deliver various healthcare services primarily at the facility level. During the Coronavirus disease- 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic the frontline Health Care Workers (HCWs) like nurses and midwives play a vital role in breaking the chain of transmission and providing supportive care to the suspected and confirmed COVID-19 patients. This manuscript describes in detail, the unrecognised roles of nurses and midwives in prevention and control of COVID-19 across all spectrums of continuum of care. This can be identified at community and health facility level from providing health education or behaviour change communication, screening/surveillance (active or passive), contact tracing, clinical care, mental health support, hospitality services, inventory management, monitoring/supervision of personal protective equipment use and biomedical waste management, isolation ward and quarantine centre management, recording and reporting and follow-up of patient/population.