On May 8 2020, Susan Michaels-Strasser, PhD, MPH, RN, FAAN, ICAP’s senior director of human resources for health (HRH) development, gave a presentation on the important role nurses play during public health emergencies, sharing her experiences as a nurse during both the HIV/AIDS pandemic and the 2014 Ebola epidemic. She introduced a recorded oral history from her colleague James Harries, a registered nurse working on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic in Liberia, saying:
“[During the HIV epidemic], I saw the power of nurses and nursing as we cared for the sick and dying without any treatment and limited infection control equipment. I thought those days had passed. Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, the voice of Harries takes on a special significance as history repeats itself. As the wisdom, lessons, and voices of nurses continue to go unheeded, experiences like Harries’ are being repeated across the globe.”
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