A tribute to our Nurses, our Frontline Heroes

Dr Elsa Sanatombi Devi / Maibam Ranita Devi *

Capping Ceremony of State Government, School of Nursing Imphal at Lamphelpat in Feb 2014 :: Pix - Shankar Kh/Lamdamba Oinam

Today, the world commemorates the true heroes behind the screen. On this International day, a day we celebrate the birth anniversary of Florence Nightingale, the founder of Modern Nursing gives us an opportunity to face crisis arena currently that the world is going through.

COVID -19 struck the world in 2020. In India, evening of 24th March 2020 will remain in history for the first time when Government of India declared Nationwide lockdown to combat the spread of COVID-19. Corona quickly travelled to Manipur and then on, the Community Health Officers of Manipur took the lead to tackle the novel virus in various quarantine centres.

No one knew what it was like, but nurses knew infection control measures and how to console the aggressive minds of irritable inmates. Nurses only knew inside of how a patient feels and how they are burnt out with their shift duties that does not permit even for their needs and loved ones. They sacrificed their energy, time, efforts with kind heart to look after the sick amid the crisis in the ICU.

We lost many dedicated nurses for this cause. They will remain an unsung front-line hero who sacrificed their lives for the sake of others. Imagine, the family she leaves behind, the loved ones who did not see her last days and an unfinished ritual that lay aside. This is unfair and untrue to humankind.

Nurses are the largest workforce globally. Nurses ranked most trusted profession (Kathleen Gaines, 19th Jan 2021). This is a credit to the entire nursing fraternity who worked tirelessly amidthe differences. Nurses across the globe are trying tooth and nail to take care of the patients that are overwhelmed. We hear the loud cries of people for oxygen, care facility and little attention from the health care sector.

Looking from the point of public, hospitals are strange places today where no one entertains the sick. Care and concern are lost, and most significantly empathy is hidden underneath the sorrow and suffering. Plight of sick patients in the ICU will speak volumes if they survive and tell the stories of how they feel.

Public awareness and accountability are bridged. Wave after wave is not the probability. People fail to understand the seriousness of this pandemic. In this, you and I are inclusive. Blaming health care professionals is not the resolution.

Blaming leaders are neither the answer. Many leaders emerged to help the people with cash and kind. Yet, if public fail to understand their humanity, we need to ponder and see what my part as a reasonable citizen is.

Very promptly, the Government of India launched the Community Nursing Officers' role towards improving quality care to enhance the health of every citizen. Their role in each centre is multifaceted. Clinical, managerial, recording reporting and public health education management are their major roles. During the pandemic, their roles and responsibilities are boundless.

Vaccination drive and awareness induction of the entire community and various workforce are major duties efficiently supported by the CHOs in Manipur. Their sincerity and efforts go out to almost managing the entire population with communicable as well as non-communicable morbid conditions on day to day activities.

Besides motivating people for their health and wellness, the CHOs work tirelessly for peoples' involvement in the movement for healthy lifestyle.

Nursing as a profession is a very satisfying career, yet nurses have faced challenges that need solution for better health of the people in general.

According to Ms Ranita Maibam, CHO Awang Wabagai the challenges that need immediate attention are regular supply of essential medication, lack of sufficient calibrated instruments and burn out due to manifold responsibilities of the CHOs. To be more specific, the CHOs face career uncertainty in the current scenario.

Although nursing is job oriented, individuals feel uncertain of their career journey which can leave them with poor job satisfaction and poor work life balance that in turn can have negative impact on the service quality.

With the theme of the year on "Nurses- A voice to lead a vision for future healthcare" we invite nurses to be more creative, innovative, persistent, be brave, empathetic, and compassionate while we care for patients ethically in this trying times.