History of Nurses’ Hands Across the Globe
August 7, 2026
Nurses’ Hands Across the Globe is an international association for nurses and others interested in nursing. The organization is FREE to join. As we grow we will have advertisers to help defray the costs.
The idea for Nurses’ Hands was born several years ago as I looked at videos of nurses in Mexico trying to care for patients in a hastily erected tent “hospital,” after the brick and mortar hospital collapsed in an earthquake. I wanted to find a way to support other nurses when natural or man-made disasters caused incredible challenges. Unfortunately, life got in the way and I never found the time to do more than talk about this.
This site was launched on April 6, 2020 as worldwide cases of COVID-19 were at 1,347,676 and deaths due to this global pandemic at 74,744 (JHU). On April 10, 2020, there were over 500,000 confirmed cumulative COVID-19 cases in the U.S. with 30,000 dead Americans. The U.S. had the dubious distinction of leading the world in COVID-19 cases and deaths (WHO Situation Reports).
Ultimately, 1.25 million Americans died of COVID-19 during the public health emergency (which ended in May of 2023, and more than 60,000 Americans died within the following 12 months. For a thorough, nurse-led investigation The Impact of COVID-19 on nurses, see the web book at The Impact of COVID-19 on Nurses – Table of Contents – Nurses’ Hands Across the Globe written by this author.
COVID-19 got in the way of finishing the project. As a nurse executive I was desperately trying to keep our staff and patients safe. Our agency was no longer able to order any type of personal protective equipment through our regular suppliers due to the global shortage. When I got home and watched the news at night, tears would pour down my face as my emotions raged from fear to anger to despair like a turbulent, lightning filled thunder cloud.
During one of the amazing COVID-19 educational sessions our Clinical Educator had put together for our staff she stated: Years from now, when this is all over, I want to be able to look back and ask, did I do everything I could have? I want to be able to say yes.
By April, 2020, nurses and other healthcare providers were working without N-95 respirators and other PPE because of a global shortage. Nurses were catching the deadly virus en masse. There was no end in sight and there were no good answers. China, one of the top producers of PPE was on lockdown and the supply chains were terribly broken.
Here in the U.S. there were not enough nurses to care for the rapid influx of patients. There were not enough hospitals or hospital beds. There were not enough ventilators in the entire world to provide respiratory support for all the dying patients in desperate need. There were not enough morgues to hold the bodies of the dead. Crisis standards of care had to be implemented throughout the U.S. healthcare system. The only thing we had an excess of was very sick nurses and healthcare providers.
This organization is dedicated to nurses and other healthcare providers worldwide who provided/ are providing supportive care to patients with COVID-19 and other potentially lethal infections on the front lines.
Most nurses are not members of long standing international networks. Many cannot afford to be members of nursing organizations that require dues. We are founding this organization in the hope that nurses will participate to collectively share our concerns, knowledge and experience. Information sharing in a crisis is facilitated when a network already exists.
Nurses have the power to make this world a better place. Let’s use that power to make our lives and the lives of those for whom we care better!
Today we are left with a much greater understanding of our global connections. COVID made it very clear that what happens in one location can very rapidly have a worldwide impact. Let’s join together to work to create a brighter future for everyone.
Mary C. Vrtis, Ph.D., MSN, RN, OCN, NEA-BC, FCN
References
Source for COVID-19 infections, deaths and case-fatality rates: Johns Hopkins University and Medicine (2020-2021). Coronavirus Resource Center. Retrieved from: https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/map.htmlr
The Staff of Kaiser Health News and the Guardian (2020). Lost on the Frontline. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-interactive/2020/aug/11/lost-on-the-frontline-covid-19-coronavirus-us-healthcare-workers-deaths-database
World Health Organization (2020). Situation reports for: January 31 (#11), February 15 (#26), February 28 (#39), March 15, March 27 (#67) , April 15 (#86), April 30 (#101), May 15 (#116) , May 31, 2020 (#131). Available from: https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/situation-reports
World Health Organization (October 20, 2021). Health and care worker deaths during COVID-19. https://www.who.int/news/item/20-10-2021-health-and-care-worker-deaths-during-covid-19
CDC (December 1, 2021). SARS-CoV-2 variant classifications and definitions. https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/variants/variant-classifications.html#anchor_1632237683347