Mirza Hodzic is a nurse working in Brcko. For him, it is not the first time to be in an emergency situation, as he has been working in the health system for many years. Even in the face of current hardships, he is trying to do his job as best as possible, so the patients are satisfied with his services. When he notices fear in his patients, he tries to talk to them and give them faith for a better tomorrow.

The family medicine department has substantially attended to the early detection of people infected with COVID-19 and prevention of its further spread. The work in primary health care departments has been reorganized, leading to an increased workload for community nurses. “In addition to the regular and planned home visits, I have been very often undertaking previously unplanned home visits to people in isolation unable to go to the health facility. These visits require maximal caution and complete personal protective equipment that poses physical and mental strain while carrying out tasks”, Mirza explains.

While doing their day-to-day job, nurses are required to implement a set of measures that have not been necessary before – all in order to protect both patients and health professionals. “Subconsciously, there is always the fear for the safety of my family, myself and of course, the patients with whom I work and who are among the most vulnerable population groups”, Mirza tells us.

Patients react differently. Some are afraid and alarmed about their own lives. The movement ban and the inability to visit the doctor, buy medications and draw retirement income are posing an additional problem to them. This is where Mirza is trying with a constructive dialogue to „ ease somewhat their lives at least and give them back faith for a better tomorrow”.

His family is handling the whole situation well and observing all the recommended measures. “Since I have been working in the health sector for many years, this is not the first time that we find ourselves in some kind of an emergency situation”, Mirza adds.

He believes that the citizens should take the situation seriously and respect the measures prescribed by the crisis headquarters, because the statistics shows that great results have been achieved so far thanks to those measures. “Stay home and observe the measures for personal protection and physical distance, in order to protect the most vulnerable ones”, is his message.

The current pandemic has shown that nurses are the cornerstone of the health system and that there is a need to invest in further development of their profession.