Adapting to the new normal

As I write this editorial it is the beginning of a new academic year and preparations are almost complete for the new intake of students across the wide range of healthcare related programmes, both pre and post registration. But it all feels very different this year. Instead of standing in a lecture theatre with a group of students in front of me, I am preparing for an ‘online’ lecture. This means I won't ‘see’ the students; they will be icons on my computer screen, I won't have the same level of interaction as they tap questions into a bubble chat rather than out loud. I will feel a sense of isolation and dissociation from the group. Daunting you might think, but since I have now been working from home since March, this has become my new normal. I am suddenly aware of how my language has changed in the wake of COVID-19. I am not sure the phrase's ‘New Normal’ and ‘Unprecedented Times' have been used quite as often before these last few months. In fact if you do a Google search for new normal the top results would certainly suggest the phrase is almost exclusive to the current pandemic. On a deeper look at what is written online about that phrase you can find definitions and relationships, for example, Wikipedia (2020) (where I know a great many of the general public look to) states that ‘A new normal is a state to which an economy, society, etc. settles following a crisis, when this differs from the situation that prevailed prior to the start of the crisis. The term has been used in relation to the financial crisis of 2007-2008, the aftermath of the 2008–2012 global recession, and the COVID-19 pandemic’. If we look to the NHS Providers (2020) website, a slightly different focus can be seen. The briefing paper produced has questions to consider