Harish Barthwal
They are again to the fore in this scary point of time. In the ongoing war against Covid-19 that has so far defied any sure shot medicine, the frontline health care functionaries i.e. nurses have demonstrated remarkable resilience and ‘never say die’ spirit. Undeterred by episodic humiliation, abuse and assaults at some hospitals, they are religiously continuing with their duties though some of the succumbed to death. Witnessing their sterling role, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has befittingly endorsed nurses being hailed as, ‘true warrior’ and the ‘angels’ in defeating the dreaded virus. Nurses’ heroism has often extends their assigned role of administering drugs because having chosen nursing as profession, they understand that mitigating human suffering means going extra mile beyond medication.
Given the very high success rate i.e. grossly 95 per cent in managing Covid-19 cases anywhere, what needs to be addressed at large more than treatment is the panic it has triggered. This is a job a nurse performs best in her role as counsellor, by allaying the apprehensions of the patient and his family members. Administering drugs, taking samples, affixing and overseeing bedside equipment, monitoring parenteral inlets & outlets, a nurse spends longer time with the patient than anyone else. This is what a patient direly looks for, especially in critical cases. As if understanding that medicine may fail but a compassionate hand never, normally she outdoes in the patient’s best interest. She is aware that man can die of mere imagination, and that man is not a mechanical being after all.
Treating the disease of any description, physical, psychological, neurological, psychiatric, etc. entails more than just medication because man is not just a flesh & bone entity. The fact that the ‘spiritual’ self is the real stuff that discriminates man from other living beings warrants that any biological pathology is not to be addressed using medical parameters alone. God’s statute prominently affixed in common area of hospitals is recognition of a super power to which great personages of all times including physicians have ever surrendered. In line with Ayurvedic presumption that treats mind-body as an integrative entity implying that one cannot stay healthy without the other being so, World Health Organisation also defines ‘health’ as “a state of physical, mental and social well-being”.
It is so ironical that rather than joyously celebrating the International Nurses Day on 12 May, the 22 million nurses and 2 million midwives should be hard pressed, basically in care of the Covid-19 population in 212 countries. The dreaded virus has already taken a toll of over 2.66 lakh including about 1800 in India with figures rising every hour. In fact this year had additional reasons for nurse community to celebrate after World Health Organisation (WHO) in consultation International Council of Nurses (ICN) declared 2020 as the Year of the Nurse and Midwife. The recognition to nursing by world body is also triggered by the 200th birth anniversary of Florence Nightingale, the nurse legend falling this year.
In India, the Trained Nurses Association of India, a 100+ years old organisation with branches in all States and membership base of three lakh members, has restructured its International Nurses Day activities to digital mode like video competitions, Nursing Now 2020 Signature campaign and release of a film, ‘A tribute to the warriors of Covid-1’ by Union Health Minister, in line with social distancing as buzzword.
As elsewhere, major problems faced by Indian nurses continue to be shortage of staff, long working hours, violence at work place and long exposure to patients and the hospital ambience that puts nurses to a greater risk of acquiring infections. As they work incessantly looking after the ailing, the aging and the others in need, let us not ignore that their care and upkeep must not be compromised.
The major agenda of Indian nurses is, achieving the universal health coverage by 2030, striving to persuade Government to bridge the gap of 6 million nurses, and lobbying to give tooth to the concept of Independence Nurse Practice (INP). As outreach of formally qualified doctors continues to be near impossible in near future and nurses can cater to many basic health needs, implementation of Independent Nurse Practice can accelerate achieving the vision of Health for All.
The author is Consulting Editor at Trained Nurses Association of India, New Delhi. Email: teenbarthwal@gmail.com
