This week the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, William and Kate, jumped on a video call with nursing students to offer their support and encouragement during this difficult time.
Student nurses across the United Kingdom have spent the last year combining their tuition with spending time on the frontline battling COVID-19.
Heir to the throne, William, commented to three students that “It is very difficult for you guys to go straight into a pandemic, I would imagine. That’s really baptism by fire.”
He added: “I imagine it has been totally crazy and very difficult to find your feet… head on fire the whole time.”
The Royal couple spoke, specifically, with young men and women from the Ulster University in Northern Ireland, who spoke candidly about their experiences.
Student nurses happy to be involved in COVID-19 battle
While the nurses admitted it had been a “scary” and “frightening” time, they also spoke stoically about wanting to be involved so they could provide real help to people. One third-year student, Elizabeth, said: “That’s what we were born to do.”
One of the students pointed out that they were learning whole new skills that older nurses hadn’t encountered before. COVID-19 has proved a steep learning curve for nurses and doctors at all levels of experience.
One of the first-year student nurses, Abigail, provided William and Kate with a short video of her day to day activities, which the couple then posted on their official Twitter feed.
When Abigail told the Royal couple that her grandmother, mother, and sister were also all nurses, Kate responded by joking that “compassion obviously runs strong in your family.”
Talking to all the students, Kate praised the nursing profession and told them how appreciated they all were: “Nursing is one of the most trusted professions in the country. You could not have chosen a better career choice. It’s needed now more than ever.”
William and Kate thanked student nurses for ‘incredible work’
William and Kate later tweeted their support for nurses in a thread about the video chat. They also wrote: “Thank you to student nurses for their incredible work supporting the frontline workforce.”
The Cambridges are currently staying at Anmer Hall near the Sandringham Estate. Queen Elizabeth has reportedly granted the couple use of her office at Sandringham House while they home school the children.
Last Spring, news emerged that Prince William had been struggling to help his children with their math homework, so he’ll probably be quite pleased that Prince George and Princess Charlotte have a mid-term break from Monday.
In other Royal news, Princess Eugenie and her husband, Jack Brooksbank, have welcomed a baby boy into the world earlier this week.