Nurses' stories from Beirut: The 2020 explosive disaster on top of a pandemic and economic crises

The World Health Organization designated last year as the International Year of the Nurse and the Midwife. And as we know worldwide, 2020 became an unforgettable year as nurses and midwives everywhere confronted the COVID-19 pandemic. To be a nurse in 2020 was challenging and heroic, but being a nurse in 2020 in Beirut, Lebanon was so extraordinarily charged with adversity. The country witnessed in a one-year series of tragedies of epic dimensions - laying a heavy toll on front-line nurses. We present our stories as eight Lebanese nurses, giving voice to our incredible experiences and our ongoing resilience in the face of these adversities. We served in the emergency department of a Beirut city hospital after a catastrophic explosion occurred in the capital on the 4th of August 2020. We reported for duty during a disaster of immense magnitude and are now coping with the aftermath of trauma. As nurses, we have faced many traumas in our country that has experienced through war and terrorism for decades. Arising from this disaster and challenges of the pandemic, we give policy recommendations that deserve urgent attention in Lebanon and underscore the need for disaster preparation, funding, education and importantly mental health care for nurses and other health professionals with help and support of the international community.