On 27 March, President of Latvia Egils Levits and the patroness of the "Looking for soul nurse" campaign Andra Levite, spouse of the President of Latvia, welcomed at Riga Castle the most sincere, hardworking and nicest nurses, and also paid special tribute to the nurses who were actively involved in the care of COVID-19 patients.
"This campaign is a thank you for the support you have given to people in regaining their health. You have demonstrated a high level of professionalism. Alongside this, you have been humanly compassionate towards patients. This is extremely important for the emotional well-being of patients. You truly deserve the gratitude and appreciation of all of us," said President of Latvia Egils Levits at the closing event of the "Looking for soul nurse" campaign, which was held again in person after a two-year break.
"The last two years have required patience and understanding from the entire society in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. But as for you, dear nurses, the pandemic has forced you to work under prolonged overload, to provide professional medical procedures together with doctors, and often to replace the support of the patient's family with humanity and empathy," said A. Levite, highlighting the working conditions of nurses during the pandemic. "I wish you from the bottom of my heart that every day before starting work, during work and when you go home after work, you feel joy and satisfaction about the importance and contribution of the nursing profession to the health of both the individual patient and society as a whole," said Mrs A. Levite.
The aim of the "Looking for soul nurse" campaign is to invite patients and colleagues to nominate for the award the most caring, hard-working, and nice nurses who tirelessly, diligently, and carefully provide support to patients both in treatment and care phases. This year, the campaign took place at Riga East Clinical University Hospital (RAKUS), Pauls Stradiņš Clinical University Hospital (PSKUS) and Children's Clinical University Hospital (BKUS). As the campaign was not held during the COVID-19 pandemic, this year each hospital also nominated nurses who are actively involved in the care of COVID-19 patients.
Nurses, who were especially honoured at Riga Castle:
- Marina Beļavska, Sandra Groza, Lilija Prudnikova, Sarmīte Komasa, Dina Skujiņa and Ļena Paradņa from RAKUS;
- Anita Innus, Dzintra Kokoreviča, Keita Elvita Kalniņa, Ilze Muceniece, Irina Chtchegoleva and Ārija Puriņa from PKUS;
- Diana Grase, Julia Japiņa, Natalja Laizāne, Ingūna Berķe, Sandra Dreimane, Jeļena Jurševica from BKUS.
