962548
research-article2020
TCNXXX10.1177/1043659620962548Journal of Transcultural Nursing
Transcultural Nursing Society
President’s Message: Song and Spirit
at the Confluence of WHO’s 2020 The
Year of the Nurse and Midwife and the
Coronavirus Pandemic
DOI: 10.1177/1043659620962548
The World Health Organization (WHO) declared 2020 the Year
of the Nurse and Midwife, recognizing the contributions made by the
approximately 27 million registered nurses worldwide (https://www.
who.int/hrh/nursing_midwifery) who provide nursing and health
care to those in need, wherever they may be. However coincidental,
with the eruption of the coronavirus, what a Year of the Nurse and
Midwife 2020 turned out to be. Worldwide, nurses spent 2020 on the
frontlines of an ever-growing pandemic the likes of which had per-
haps never before been witnessed or been so continuously reported
on to the public via broadcast journalism and social media.
Transcultural Nursing Society (TCNS) members were affected
in various ways by the coronavirus pandemic. When TCNS mem-
ber and former Ghana Peace Corp volunteer (https://csitoday.com/
tag/nursing/page/2/) Ledys Janett Perez, BSN, RN, was inter-
viewed for local television news, she shared her insights, experi-
ences, expertise, and challenges in providing care to COVID-19
patients in an intensive care unit setting. There, singing as she pro-
vided nursing care, she bonded with patients, and raised all their
spirits (https://www.ny1.com/nyc/all-boroughs/news/2020/04/23/
brooklyn-nurse-bonds-with-her-covid-19-patients-in-spirit-and-song).
In a blog, Dr. Rachel Spector (2020) wrote a poignant report about
her personal encounter with COVID-19. She described her experi-
ence from the onset of symptoms through her hospitalization and
recovery from COVID-19, including having the sprit to refuse to
be placed on a ventilator and choosing a path to healing and recov-
ery that honored her individual values, beliefs, and traditions.
The unprecedented confluence of WHO’s 2020 The Year of the
Nurse and Midwife and the coronavirus pandemic created many
challenges for individual nurses. It also created opportunities that
these transcultural nurses used to educate the public and policymak-
ers about the requisite specialized knowledges, skills, and abilities
of professional nursing; the complexities involved in delivering,
and receiving, evidence-based and culturally competent care; and
the importance of a transcultural approach in order to achieve
optimal outcomes for diverse patients, families, and populations.
Gayle P. Russell, PhD, RN
President, Transcultural Nursing Society
ORCID iD
Gayle P. Russell https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0990-5899
Reference
Spector, R. (2020, July 1). My encounter with COVID-19—Rachel E.
Spector, RN, PhD. https://tcns.org/my-encounter-with-covid-19-
rachel-e-spector-rn-phd-ctn-a-faan/
Journal of Transcultural Nursing
2021, Vol. 32(1) 86­
© The Author(s) 2020
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Social Inequity and the COVID-19
Pandemic
DOI: 10.1177/1043659620962557
The differential patterning of morbidity and mortality from COVID-19
has highlighted the long-standing social inequities in the United States.
An excess burden of infection and death has disproportionately affected
adults and children of African, Latino, and Indigenous Americans.
Poverty from unemployment and loss of income affected low-wage
workers without medical benefits or employer-provided protection
against the virus, those who live in multigenerational households
unable to do social distancing, and those forced to stay home because
they cannot afford childcare. The pandemic has caused cascading
effects creating havoc on the food supply, livelihood, businesses, health
care, and governments, emphasizing the notion that health is central to
the well-being of individuals, families, and society.
Catastrophic events have more profound impact on vulnerable
populations with the least resources to weather the cumulative effects
of stressful existence. Not surprisingly, social inequities that existed
prior to the catastrophe worsen the vulnerability of disadvantaged
populations in disasters. Health inequities stem from the embodiment
of ecologies, both social and physical environments by populations.
Ideally, action on social determinants of health should be done prior to
the catastrophic event by confronting institutionalized practices favor-
ing groups with money and power. Universal access to health care
services would have prevented the big gaps in access to COVID test-
ing between the rich and the poor; equity in funding for health services
would have made much needed resources available to residents and
health workers in vulnerable communities; equity in support for edu-
cation would have mitigated the disparity in resources for home
schooling of poor children; federal regulations preventing environ-
mental degradation and disinvestment in marginal communities would
have improved their resistance and decrease susceptibility to diseases;
and provision of timely, comprehensive economic support for disad-
vantaged communities could have minimized their suffering.
There is an epidemic of violence, protests, and social disorder in the
midst of the pandemic. While the precipitating event might be the fla-
grant police brutality toward African Americans, the discontent has no
doubt been fed by widespread impact of social inequities that were
made more evident by the pandemic. The social experience of allostatic
load, the wear and tear effects of chronic stress, has spread over to other
groups. For example, the loss of low-income essential workers has
affected everyone’s access to affordable, sufficient, safe, and healthy
food. The backlash against Black Lives Matter fails to grasp its essence
that all lives matter. Indeed, if all lives matter, why should Blacks suffer
the most brutality from the justice system? Black Lives Matter should
not be interpreted as claiming privilege for blacks, but rather a battle cry
for equity for marginalized populations. The undergirding message is
one of social justice and advocacy for socially disadvantaged groups.
Dula F. Pacquiao , EdD, RN, CTN-A, TNS
Rutgers University Newark, NJ, USA
ORCID iD
Dula F. Pacquiao https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8210-0109