In my 29 years as a nurse, I have never seen anything like the impact of Covid-19.

This time last year, nothing could have prepared us for what would come next.

The professional impact has been hugely challenging, alongside trying to balance the personal impact of Covid-19.

Many of us feel a sense of guilt that we cannot always be there for our families.

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In our hospitals, so many staff have worked outside their usual area of practice, wearing cumbersome PPE and treating patients in an environment which can seem quite alien – sadly without being able to have visitors in our hospitals because we need to keep everyone as safe as possible.

When Covid-19 came to the UK, we had to move and adapt at incredible speed.

We had to redeploy our staff and rearrange our wards to keep our patients apart.

We watched our intensive care units and wards begin to fill up.

We had to postpone routine operations, knowing there were patients still waiting at home.

Our staff were, and still are, incredible.

The demands and pressures over the last year are nothing like anyone has ever experienced.

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There were the physical demands – the exhausting shifts day and night, hour upon hour spent in the highest levels of PPE in sweltering heat.

The mental demands were worse.

The concept of a novel virus means exactly that – it is new, it behaves differently, and the anxiety around how this could affect our staff was palpable.

Some of our staff made the difficult decision to stay away from home to minimise the risk of bringing Covid-19 to their door.

They supported and cared for our patients and their families while often being miles away from their own.

January 2021 looks different.

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In the intervening months, there has been tireless research into how to treat Covid-19 which we have been able to put in place.

Routine testing for staff has now become an everyday occurrence.

There is also hope in the rollout of vaccination programmes.

Earlier this month, I had the privilege of giving the first Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine in the world at the Churchill Hospital in Oxford, just a few hundred metres from where it was developed.

I cannot ignore the other differences, though.

Our hospitals are fuller than they were in March and April last year.

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Not only that, but we are almost one year down.

Our staff are exhausted.

We all have a duty to support ourselves, those around us, and yes – the NHS.

We know everyone has had a challenging year, and we know you are fatigued.

But please – follow the lockdown rules, choose the right healthcare service for your needs, and help us to support your loved ones when they are ready for discharge from hospital.

We can and we will get through this, but the vaccine alone is not enough – and this is far from over.

For every staff member, for every potential Covid-19 patient, for every family member waiting for news – please play your part.