In an analysis of perceptions of nurses in the pandemic, one group of researchers made it clear that valuing nurses' well-being was equally as important as valuing their expertise. It is important not to minimise the emotional and physical costs of the extra-ordinary responsibilities involved in practising in these circumstances, and the degree of support required to sustain nurses effectively in that practice. Teaching online Over recent years, New Zealand tertiary education providers have followed the international trend towards blended learning in nursing education to better meet the needs of contemporary students. Blended learning approaches generally involve both online and practical or face-to-face sessions, with some delivery of content and resources online. When delivered well, blended learning has a positive impact on student achievement because it overcomes some barriers to learning, such as time and distance. Further research is needed to understand the impact and experience of teaching and learning fully online for both students and nurse educators, because it is likely the scale of online learning has increased in many programmes. The pandemic has highlighted gaps in the health workforce, and chronic underinvestment in public health, and ongoing risks for our population who are already under-served by current arrangements. The pandemic has given nursing more visibility and a stronger voice to lead change and influence health policy and practice, so we need to avoid limiting our potential by challenging historical representations of nurses.