Nurses from the UK and around the world are sending messages of solidarity and support to their colleagues in Ukraine, as shocking news and images show nurses struggling to keep working while under Russian attack.
The International Council of Nurses (ICN) issued a statement saying the protection and safety of nurses and all health workers is paramount and that any attack or targeting of health workers or health facilities goes against the protection of health workers enshrined in international regulations and the Geneva Convention and is an affront against humanity.
“The people of Ukraine are in all of our thoughts – not least the country’s nursing and other health and care staff”
Denise Chaffer
This comes following the publication of video footage by the New York Times showing nurses working in a makeshift bomb shelter in the basement of a hospital in Dnipro, in Eastern Ukraine on Thursday 24 February. The nurses provide emergency ventilation with hand pumps for babies from the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) evacuated to the shelter when the city was targeted by Russian missile strikes.
“This is the NICU. In a bomb shelter. Can you imagine?” Dr Denis Surkov, chief of the neonatal unit, at Dnipropetrovsk Oblast Children’s Clinical Hospital, told the New York Times in a WhatsApp message. “This is our reality.”
Amnesty International has warned that Russia has been targeting hospitals, with six healthcare workers reported to have been among the injured when a Russian missile struck near a hospital building in Vuhledar, in the Donetsk region in Eastern Ukraine at 10.30am on Thursday morning.
Many more casualties are expected as Russian attacks have continued throughout the day, and fighting has reached the capital city of Kyiv.
President of the Royal College of Nursing, Dr Denise Chaffer, said: “What we have all witnessed in recent days gives us all great cause for concern. The updates coming from Ukraine are deeply distressing and the international community must continue to come together in response. This is a dark moment in history.
“The people of Ukraine are in all of our thoughts – not least the country’s nursing and other health and care staff. As president of the Royal College of Nursing, I extend a message of solidarity – on behalf of members from across the UK – to them and nursing staff working in all countries facing conflict.”
ICN president Pamela Cipriano said: “We are extremely concerned about the situation in Ukraine and our hearts go out to all the people caught up in the conflict, including our nurses and all health workers who once again find themselves on the frontlines of another humanitarian crisis.
“The protection and safety of our nurses and health systems are paramount and enshrined in international law. We call on all parties involved in the conflict and the international community to do everything in their power to protect the safety of our nurses who often put themselves in mortal danger to care for others.
“Access to healthcare and the delivery of humanitarian assistance must remain a priority for all concerned as we see cities under attack and tens of thousands of people being displaced.”
“The protection and safety of our nurses and health systems are paramount and enshrined in international law”
Pamela Cipriano
ICN chief executive Howard Catton added: “Nurses and healthcare workers are a force for healing and reconciliation. The principals of the impartiality of healthcare and medical and nursing neutrality are far stronger than any of the differences between people. Any attack on a hospital or healthcare facility not only goes against international law it is an affront against humanity.”
Among the national nursing associations expressing support for their colleagues in Ukraine is the Russian Nurses Association.
In a message to the ICN, president of the Russian Nurses Association, Valentina Sarkisova, said: “Together with the whole world, we hope for a rapid resolution of all conflicts and a return to a normal and peaceful life.
“We do believe that no political confrontation can affect the mission of nursing. With all the passion we wish no more lives be lost, and all nurses be back to their peaceful duties in safe and secure environment.”
Chief executive of the Queen’s Nursing Institute, Dr Crystal Oldman, expressed concern for the many Ukrainian nurses working in the UK, worried about their family and friends back home.
“The QNI want to let them know that we are here for any nurse who needs some time and space to reflect on how they feel and to talk to another nurse for support in a safe and confidential environment,” she said.
Support from the QNI can be reached at www.qni.org.uk/talktous.
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