When a person takes the Nightingale Pledge and the light is passed into her/his hands, a nurse is born. Nurses then dedicate themselves to devoted service for human welfare.
Almost everyone, globally, and it is said without exaggeration, encounters a nurse from Kerala, during his or her tryst with health service. A figure of efficiency and compassion, the Kerala nurse has created a brand value of quality care. No wonder it is commonly said - if nurses from Kerala strike work for a day, the entire healthcare of the world will come to a standstill.
The birth of the nursing industry in the State began in the early 70s, with a demand for caregivers in the West. Many young women from the interiors of the State gained training, initially, in nursing colleges outside the state and left for greener pastures abroad. In the two decades that followed the pattern was quite set. A more systematic recruitment, education, training, immigration and finally the remittance to families and State established a success story that Kerala prides itself for.
But the saga has not been without travails. Behind its swell and success have been social and financial hardships.
While Kerala boasts of world-class medical facilities the state of the caregivers, the strongest link in the system, remains weak.
What is it that makes the nurse from Kerala a distinctive brand? What is in their DNA, so to speak, that makes them providers of quality care?
On World Nurses Day, as we take a deep look into the lives of the nurses from the State, the one quality that stands out is their resilience.
Ajitha PS, Chief Nursing Officer, Aster Medcity puts it lightly, “you have heard of the resilience of the Mumbaikars, we are something like that. We just bounce back after handling a tough case. Most nurses are like that but specially a Malayali nurse., It is amazing.”
Better a good nurse than an average doctor
Thankam Gomez, President Clinical Services - Aarohan
Thankam Gomez became a nurse because she could not become a doctor and even to this day she gets emotional about it. Working in India and abroad, with doctors of many nationalities, she has been through the entire sweep of nursing care. Currently as part of Aarohan she is involved in designing nursing solutions - putting processes in place, and training trainers.
She treasures dearly the words of her guru and guide, Dr. EV Vijay Kumar, head of ICU Abha General Hospital, Saudi Arabia, who said, “It is better to be a great nurse like you than an average doctor.” Those words sealed her commitment to her profession.
Starting very young at the Holy Family Hospital, New Delhi, she learnt a valuable lesson early – that one needs to be more, for that one needs to know more and people should know that you know. I share whatever I’ve learnt through my career.
Happy Nurse’s Day
Dhanya Sanal K, Spokesperson of the Defence Ministry in Thiruvananthapuram & Former Nurse
Dhanya Sanal K was a nurse before she joined the Civil Services. Currently as the spokesperson of the Defence Ministry in Thiruvananthapuram, Dhanya credits her successful journey to her training as a nurse. A defining moment in her career was being part of the rescue team during the two major tragedies - the bus accident at Pookkiparambu and the Kadalundi train mishap, where she had to tend “completely burnt people.” It gave her a strength which sees her through.
Of the Kerala Nurse she says they stand out because of the quality service they render and wishes her tribe Happy Nurses Day.
Tending the war heroes
Ajitha PS, Chief Nursing Officer
Aster Medcity:
Ajitha was only 18 when she joined nurse training at AFMC Pune. Her first encounter with what it means to be a nurse was when IPKF war casualties began to arrive in droves. For a first timer the maimed bodies of the soldiers, armless, legless torsos with a speaking head is an image she recalls with grit. “But the soldiers were so brave, I can vividly recall the faces of the war heroes. I learnt courage from them.” It has been no looking back for her since.
The quality of compassion
Maj. General Elizabeth John (Retd.)
Winner of the Florence Nightingale Award
Hailing from Thiruvalla Elizabeth says it could be her compassionate trait that encouraged her father to guide her into becoming a nurse.
She studied at the College of Nursing, Armed Forces Medical College, Pune. Later she did her post-graduation and earned an M.Phil too. Now as trainer and mentor she has and thoroughly enjoyed her long innings of 38 years and 10 months. The defining moment of her career was seeing a young recruit battling terminal cancer. “He suffered unmitigated pain, as there were not very good drugs at the time. It changed my perception of cancer care, and drew me to health education especially educating women about cancer, as I was part of the obstetrics and gynaecology department and do my bit.”
Cancer care and role of a nurse
Srilekha Girish
Chief Nursing Officer, RCC, Thiruvananthapuram
Nursing is all about going beyond medication, says Srilekha. “A nurse has to instil in her patient a sense of trust in the treatment, especially when it is something like cancer.” Srilekha, who has won the Florence Nightingale Award from the President in 2016 and has been in the profession close to 20 years.
Srilekha, who has always aced her academics, joined RCC in 1998 and has been working there since.
“The relationship between a nurse and her patient, especially in a cancer care, is a long one. It is one of the most enriching of experiences.”
One of the experiences she still recalls in when a patient’s daughter, who was studying to become a doctor, came back to her after her mother’s treatment and told her that she realises how important a nurse’s role is and how Srilekha has changed her attitude towards nurses.
Nursing teaches you to value life
Capt. Usha Banerji
Group Director, Nursing, Apollo Hospitals
Three decades in the profession has been full of experiences for Capt. Usha Banerji. For someone who wanted to become a doctor, her name appeared in the Engineering list after the Common Entrance Test. She accepted it, but left it to join nursing in the Armed Forces Medical College. “I think I am destined to be where I am,” she says.
“We have celebrated births, stood by people as they died, seen the worst of human condition. The profession has taught me to value life and not a day goes by without a momentous event. Each day my life is transformed a little,” she says. Having won the President’s medal for academics (in 1989), she believes nursing has made her a better human being. “You realise that life is so fragile.”
Apart from her services in the Forces, she has worked as Group Director Nursing in Manipal Hospital, has been principal of a college, and completed her MBA before being picked up by Apollo Hospitals, where she has been working for 13 years now.
She recalls an incident when she had a comatose soldier in her care. “I looked after him for three months. I would speak to him constantly. I would describe the day to him.” A year and a half later, when she had moved out that department, he found her and thanked her. She did not recognise him, but he recognised her voice. “ ‘I used to hear you. I remember everything you told me,’ he told me.”
( Inputs: Priyadershini S, Shilpa Nair Anand, Anasuya Menon )
