Sonya Eddy (Epiphany, General Hospital) tweeted earlier today that she is
helping raise money to provide scholarships for nursing students. She stated, “Everyday, I play a nurse on
TV. Over the years, I’ve heard from
thousands of real nurses about how hard their job is. Now with COVID, #WeNeedMoreNurses and we need
them now. I’m leading a new campaign to
provide scholarships to nursing students. You in? www.gofund.me/0a85dd70“. She continued in a following tweet: “To
help me and my friend @choo_ek achieve our goal, please give what you can and
then REPLY here so I can thank you! Let’s do this!”
According to NurseJournal.org, there are 4 top reasons that
lead to nursing shortages: an increase in demand to provide care for the aging
population, older nurses nearing retirement, shortage of nursing educators, and
high turnover rate. During the height of
the pandemic, the nurse-to-patient ratio increased to 1:14 due to nurse
shortages. For the nurses who were still
working, this led to high levels of stress and burnout. This led to even higher turnover rates and
leaving numerous nursing positions left unfilled.
Eddy is raising awareness on such an important topic that effects
so many people. The nurses who are still
working on the front lines taking care of those with Covid and/or other
illnesses need support. What would benefit
them is for the facilities they work for to hire educated and trained nurses to
balance the intense workload. Nursing
school can be quite costly and by raising money to provide scholarships for
nursing students will help decrease the financial barrier some students might
be facing.
Eddy had posted a video in her tweet where she stated, “Hello
everyone, I hope you’re finding peace and staying healthy. I was thinking about this over the
holiday. I think most of us were- and
honestly, if this is coming as a surprise to you then you are not paying
attention. We are struggling again. We are straining our healthcare workers
again. We are putting those at risk
whose entire lives are dedicated to protecting ours. And not only is there a nursing shortage, but
I read this week that the nurses we do have on the frontlines are actually
being asked to come into work even if they are infected with Covid 19. No one and I mean no one should be asked to
work if they are infected with the virus that has killed over 840,000 Americans
especially those who are trying to heal those who are already sick. And it comes down to this: we need more nurses. Not only do we have to give the nurses who
fight for us everyday a break, but we need to create a new foundation of nurses
who are going to be the ones who help and heal our kids, our parents, our
friends, hell, even us. There is a
foundation that’s already doing this work, already has a scholarship fund to
send more people to nursing school, and I want to help them do it. And you know what? We’re going to raise half a million dollars. That’s right.
We’re going to get more people to nursing school so we can create a new generation
of nurses and finally give the nurses we already have a well, well deserved
break. They’ve got a Go Fund Me already
set up, so whatever you’ve got, $5, $10, $20, $100. Whatever you spend on a cup of coffee in the
morning, send it here today instead. We
need more nurses, but you already knew that. Let’s get this done.”
Thank you, Eddy for raising awareness on such an important
topic! For those who are able to donate,
please consider it and donate whatever you can. If you are not able to donate, please spread the word and share the link:
www.gofund.me/0a85dd70
(Article written by Adriana Grecco)
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