Nursing: a noble profession

Nursing is a noble profession and on May 12^th, the world-over, INTERNATIONAL NURSES DAY (IND) is celebrated. The IND theme for 2022 is ‘Nurses: A Voice to Lead – Invest in Nursing and respect rights to secure global health’.

On May 12^th, the world-over, INTERNATIONAL NURSES DAY (IND) is celebrated. May 12^th is the birth anniversary of Florence Nightingale. International Council of Nurses (ICN), which is a federation of more than 130 national nursing associations, has celebrated IND from 1965. However, in Jan 1974, ICN decided to celebrate the IND, uniformly and globally on 12^th May. Each year, ICN creates and distributes an IND kit that contains the resources for celebrating International Nurses Day (IND), based on the annual theme. The IND theme for 2022 is ‘Nurses: A Voice to Lead – Invest in Nursing and respect rights to secure global health’.

Nurses are the bulwark of healthcare profession. Long before a surgeon enters the OT, the nurse would be there to prepare the patient – not only physically, but also strengthen mental make-up of the patient. During the surgery, the nurse is alert to various bodily parameters of the patient and ensuring support to progress of surgery. The nurse keeps a track of the swabs, and other surgical instruments in use. She/he leaves the OT only after the patient moves to the ICU for post-operative care. While this is the routine hard working story of an OT nurse, the non-OT nurses too have intensely long hours of care giving and providing support to patient recovery, including ensuring a positive attitude among patients.

Much is focused on the role of doctors and their ability to heal patients through proper medical, dental and surgical knowledge and techniques; however, doctors rely on the supportive nursing team for full deliverables of patient well-being. A doctor is simply stressed without nursing support. The role of nurses is indispensable for doctor and patient.

The other very vital role of nurses is managing and giving confidence to patient attenders and patient’s family members during the care giving. Patient attenders are always stressed about the status of patient and the future course of disease, while the doctor does everything to heal the patient, the doctor has many patients to attend to. One of the immediately accessible healthcare professional in the wards of a hospital, who is a picture of patience – is the nurse. At the nursing station, the nurse is alert to all demands of patients and also provides timely interventions to ensure the doctor’s recommendations are carried through – such as administration of injectables, monitoring IV infusion flow, and providing other drugs.

In case of any emergency with the hospitalized patient, it is the nurse who has to spring into action – institute recovery measures and simultaneously call in the duty doctor and assist the duty doctor, in patient rescue. The nurse also keeps tab on the patient ensuring adherence to diet. Food is also medicine and supports healing of patients. In the healthcare team efforts, the nurse professional is a sheet anchor for effective administration of medical and surgical therapy. Rightly said, there is a quote on nurses: “Nurse: just another word to describe a person strong enough to tolerate anything and soft enough to understand anyone.” —Unknown

No patient ever forgets the support and care the nurse who has helped in meeting the requirements like use of bedpan, tube feeding, and administration of enema, body cleansing and other hygiene measures. Patients always recall such moments of help with utmost gratitude and bless the ever supportive nurses.

Florence Nightingale: lady with the lamp

Popular as ‘lady with the lamp’ Florence Nightingale is considered the modern world’s first professional nurse. She would go on her rounds tending to the wounded at Barrack hospital, Turkey with a lamp in hand, hence, the description: ‘lady with the lamp’.

Being a visionary & coming from a British aristocratic background, Florence Nightingale gave the principles and priorities for establishing modern nursing education and nursing profession. Born on 12^th May, 1820 at Florence, Italy, when her British parents were on a travel tour, Florence had a comfortable and wealthy upbringing. When she was in her teens, Florence took an inspired plunge into nursing, to care of the sick and poor – although Florence’s parents wanted her to marry and settle down. Before making her mark as a nurse, Florence learnt nursing concepts in Germany and France, thanks to her supportive father. In 1853, Florence Nightingale started to serve as Superintendent and Manager of a hospital in London, marking her formal entry into healthcare practice.

The Crimean war between Russia and the British (with France and Turkey) during the period 1853 and 1856 saw much death and distress. Ultimately, the British emerged victorious. However, during the war, wounded British soldiers were in dire straits at makeshift hospitals and in squalid conditions. Thirty four year old, Florence Nightingale with a team of 38 women came to British Military Hospital (Barrack Hospital), Scutary, Turkey, and with intense dedication and resoluteness, Florence Nightingale focused on improving sanitary conditions and providing supportive care to wounded soldiers. Her interventions not only gave her experiential learnings, her mission also saved thousands of British lives. Hence, Florence Nightingale is called the Crimean war heroine. Florence Nightingale’s work during the Crimean war revolutionized nursing treatment to wounded soldiers and also improved battlefield medicine.

The evergreen nursing profession

Today, nursing is a well-established and progressive global healthcare profession. Opportunities exist in India and abroad. Nurses are very well paid, with anesthetist nurse being the highest paid nursing professional in USA. Qualified Indian nurses are in demand across the globe for their professional services. Kerala is focused on becoming a hub to supply nurses to the world. Nursing colleges are agog with learners eager to make a mark – professionally in the global nursing profession.

In India, nursing profession has advanced with immense growth opportunities, in Govt. and private hospitals (ward nurses, OT nurses, and ICU nurses), military and armed force service (military nurses), factories (industrial nurses), community health nurses, and in field of nursing administration there are various positions; and finally, nursing education sector has opened up lots of jobs as lecturers and so on. Nurses in informatics and independent practice are also into a growth path.

On International Nurses Day (IND), 12^th May let us salute nurses: the noble care givers, often not acknowledged adequately in public domain; nurses are the professionals who strive to provide health promotion, health protection, health maintenance, health restoration, rehabilitation, and palliation.