LETS HAIL THE SERVICES OF NURSING COMMUNITY
Nurse happens to be a Latin Word. It refers to dedicated and quiet health personnel who invariably happens to be women.The term transdesecends gender. Hence, men in this profession are also known as Nurse. As it is a good career choice, 7% of nurses in India comprise this category.
Traditionally called Sisters, they were drawn from religious orders of Roman Catholic or the Protestants in U.K. Full form of Nurse is Nurse Practioner. He or she is a person who takes care of the indisposed or infirm, of course under the command and supervision of a Physician or a Surgeon as per an established medical protocol.
Primary functions of a Nurse includes taking care of injuries, giving medicines in time, conducting prescribed examination, recording detailed medical histories, monitoring B.P. & Heart rate, performing diagnostic tests, operating medical equipment, drawing blood and admitting & discharging the patients as per the orders of the Physician.
Temperament of a Nurse
She/He should be of caring nature with adequate empathy, stamina, problem solving skills, communication skills as also a sense of humour to keep those patients in good humour who tend to get depressed due to pain and travails of treatment as also remaining away from their home for relatively longer spells. In the changed scenario , however, one should not be surprised if reverse is found to be true due to immense paying capacity of the patient.
A nurse can be a child nurse, a disability nurse, mental health nurse, adult nurse or a Nursing Associate.Anesthesist nurses are the highest paid nurses in the world. A nurse can rise to the highest level of Chief Nursing Officer.Incidentally,during the National Award Ceremony,2021, Brigadier Punita A.Sharma, a senior nurse of a Central Para Military force has been honoured.
While ten best nursing studying countries in the world are Sweden,USA,Canada, NewZealand, Ireland, Netherland , Russia and Norway, it is in Norway wherin Nurses get highest salary ranging from $50,000 to $ One Lakh per annum. Nurses from India ( Kerala & North East) have made a mark in the Middle East and many European countries in the last decade.
Florence Nightingale,Queen of Nursing
Florence Nightingale was the first officially recognised Nurse.She was a British national born in 1820 in Florence, Italy. Subsequent to qualifying as a nurse in 1851, she is reported to have travelled to Turkey to take care of soldiers of Great Britain, engaged in Crimean War. Due to her dedicated service upto the age of 90 years, she was called Queen of Nursing.
To commemorate her zeal, enthusiasm and service acumen ,Government of India confers a national award in her honour every year to nurses and nursing professionals in association with the Nursing Council of India. Award winners are selected from all the states of the country, based on recommendation of concerned State Governments.
The 2020 International Florence Nightingale Award has been conferred on the Visual Analytics team of East London NHS Foundation Trust. The team has used data visualisation software for a number of apps to enable easy access to clinical and non- clinical information that can facilitate decision making.
2021 Award Ceremony
At a simple ceremony held presumably after a gap of two years, President Draupadi Murmu gave away awards to 60 nurses(a few men also) on 7th November at Rastrapati Bhawan.It is heartening to note that two nurses from Sikkim, namely, Smt.Tika Devi Pandey, ANM at Ranipool PHC and Ms. Tashi Lhamu Sherpa, Assistant Nursing Superintendent at C.H.C,Soreng were among the award winners.They have done the state proud.
Smt.Pandey, having a service experience as ANM in tribal and remote areas of the state,happens to be an active,enthusiastic and serious minded individual.Her major areas include ICDS, Immunization,health education, mental health ,school health and Covid related activities. She has also worked as a Frontline Worker during Covid-19 pandemic.
Similarly, Ms Tashi Lhamu Sherpa, having an experience of 22 years,is working as an Asistant Nursing Superintendent at CHC,Soreng. In addition to her normal duties, she has undergone training in Oncology,new born care,Cervical cancer and integrated skills ofreproductive and child health. She finds time also to assist an NGO, dedicated to welfare of nurses.
Such awards are meant to enhance the sense of service and care among the selected functionaries, apart from motivating their sisters & brothers to put in more hard work.
Notable feature of this year’s award was the recognition given to those front line warriors who forgot their family members and relatives during the worst days of two waves of the Covid pandemic in the country.While many became sick themselves, some of them succumbed to their ailments as well. By working inheavy PPE kits for more than six hours at a stretch, a few of them also were reported to have become victims of Hypoxia, a situation of Oxygen deprivation.
My three comments and suggestions prior to winding up would be –
Any act of verbal misbehaviour or physical assault on hospital personnel has to be severely dealt with. A nurse of new STNM hospital ,Gangtok received grievous injuries from a visitor some time ago.While she had to be hospitalised for a long period and continues to remember her trauma, a senior Doctor who tried to save the situation, died subsequently.
An award of this nature should be instituted also for ASHA and Anganwari workers as they work at the cutting edge under pressing circumstances, despite inclement weather, when it comes to taking care of minor children & teen aged girls, pregnant and lactating women, cajoling unwilling or unaware ones to opt for institutional deliveries or extending a helping hand in bringing down overall Rate of Fertility, Child Mortality and Maternal Mortality.
Their present honorarium being disproportionate to services rendered and risks undertaken DESERVES A RISE.
The role of Nurses and Nursing professionals or the para medics in the continuing mission of giving vaccines to prevent further onslaught of Corona virus is remarkable, if not exemplary. Let us not only hail their efforts, let us salute them as well for their part of social labour.
Aaloc Srivastav,
Ex-C.S,Sikkim