Nursing: No Longer A Dirty Job

Nursing is considered a commendable profession that is responsible for providing care as well as attention to the patients. You would perhaps be interested to know how such a profession came into existence.

Well, it all began in the pre-modern era, when nuns volunteered themselves to take care of injured soldiers during war. During then they were not called nurses, but "sisters". It is evident now that this profession has evolved from a religious root when these people being influenced by their religious teaching offered their help to tend to injured soldiers during the period of war.

Nursing is not just a name of a profession; it is acting out a part. The word ‘nurse’ incorporates two grammatical items - Noun and Verb. Once earned, the title is worthless without using the knowledge gained from the study - and only beneficial by utilizing both grammatical terms.

Nurse, when used as a noun, is a title given to someone in the medical profession. It is more of a status word, a placement on the hierarchy ladder. It is a placement earned in a chosen field, but is not yet actively achieved unless it is achieved by acting.

Nurse, when it is used as a verb, is caring for patients; whether it is physically or emotionally, just as the word verb implies an action. It must be a part played by a compassionate, caring individual who sees people as feeling, emotionally, needy human beings.

The profession of nurses has evolved greatly and has somewhat moved away from its religious root. However, there are many countries, especially in Asia where there remained some of these roots - by retaining senior nurses as ‘sisters’.

Nowadays, nurses have, however, been seen to move to a various sectors. Although still within the scope of health care, it is not limited to just attending and providing care to patients. Some of these trained nurses are taking on a more technical role like controlling apparatus like x-ray machines or other relevant devices.

The scope of duties is wider now. Nurses are equipped with the latest knowledge not only on the clinical aspect, but also in education and management, e.g. anesthesia, neonatal, geriatric, physiology, immunology, the use of new high-tech equipment, IT knowledge and psychiatric nursing.

There was a period when nursing was not seen as a respectable profession. In Nepal, the daughters were not allowed to become a nurse. The parents strictly prohibited their daughters from receiving nursing education. The slogan that "The daughters are spoilt if they become nurse" was prevalent but the situation is different now.

Devi Upadhaya Adhikari, 45, a school teacher, said that she had a keen interest to be a nurse after her SLC examination but because of the pressure of the parents she was barred from pursuing nursing education.

Adhikari said, "The nursing profession always fascinated me as I always loved to take care of the elderly people as well as the sick and disabled people."

But I had to kill my desire as my parents did not allow me to be a nurse. The situation at that time was very different from now as the society then did not accept a nurse in their house easily, she added.

She said, "The people needed nurses in the hospitals but did not like their daughters and sisters to be a nurse."

Disappointed for not being able to be a nurse, she said that now the parents themselves encouraged their daughters to be a nurse mainly because of good scope of nursing. "It has now become a good means of career development and serves as a ladder to go abroad."

"I am proud to be a nurse. I respect my profession as it gives me an amazing satisfaction to serve and heal pain of the needy patients with my care and affection." These are the words of Sangita Sapkota, one of the staff nurses working at Tribhuwan University Teaching Hospital.

After completing her PCL in nursing from Kathmandu University, she started working as a staff nurse at TUTH. At the same time she is studying Bachelor in Nursing (BN) at Innovative College, Kathmandu.

Comparing between the nurses that have passed out of government and private nursing colleges, Sapkota said that there was not much difference between the nursing institutions in the nation and abroad when it came to getting a job.

She said that the nurses who studied in government colleges and enrolled in the government hospitals have a little low salary scale. They are provided more facilities in comparison to the nurses working at private hospitals. Similarly, the nurses in government hospitals can be posted at other hospitals including the remote areas, which can be a bit problematic to the females, she added.

But there is a great contrast between the fees taken by private nursing colleges and government nursing colleges. A girl can complete her nursing education of PCL level at a government college by paying around Rs. 150,000 whereas the private colleges charge around double the amount.

According to the statistics provided by Nepal Nursing Council, there are a total of 70 institutions where nursing courses are taught. There are six academic authorities which are currently conducting nursing classes. They include Tribhuwan University, Kathmandu University, Pokhara University, National Academy of Medical Sciences, BP Koirala Institute of Health Sciences and Council for Technical Education and Vocational Training (CTEVT).

CTEVT is in the lead in conducting nursing classes followed by Pokhara University which has been conducting nearly 20 nursing schools.

Nursing is no more a dirty profession. The important role the nurses play is recognized, and they are no longer disregarded by doctors or surgeons. They are now a part of the total health care team. With their advanced knowledge and skills, they can save lives in an emergency situation.

The trend of taking up nursing as a profession has been increasing as more and more people are out to take up nursing as a remarkable career. In order to fill in the manpower shortage, there are many countries in the world that are importing nursing talents from other nations.

Namrata Luitel, who has been receiving her higher education in nursing in the United States of America after completing her PCL programme from Birgunj Nursing Campus and working at BP Koirala Memorial Cancer Hospital, Chitwan has a very positive viewpoint towards nursing occupation.

She finds nursing as a remarkably respectable profession, which gives pleasure to one with the caring heart. Nursing is the art of care based on scientific principles.

Luitel said, "Whenever I notice myself, I find myself as a person with a caring heart pursuing my education with an expectation of being a nurse who possesses all the qualities of a good nurse."

Nursing is a profession that gives meaning to hard work and struggle in life. Sharing her experiences about her occupation, she said, "I started working in a cancer hospital as a staff nurse in medical oncology unit where I learned about the meaning of life. It was terribly difficult to see those cancer patients going through suffering and death."

Her thirst for knowledge took her to the USA. Again, she has had opportunities for some more challenges and struggle in life. She started working at an assisted living facility and in a nursing home as a CNA. She said that working in those places helped her to have more self-confidence and increase her self-esteem.

She said that it felt so pleasant to be praised by those elderly patients which gave her a lot of satisfaction to be able to provide quality care to those frail old adults.

Describing some hardships of coming to a foreign country for education she said that along with opportunities there are some people who undermine international students. Those people think Nepal is mere a poor country where the health care system is way behind.

Luitel said that she had experienced many marvelous things in the field of nursing. "To be a nurse is an exciting opportunity to learn, to care, and to understand life. If someone wants to find the value of their life, to care people and to understand more about struggle, I will certainly recommend them to pursue a career in the field of nursing."

The scope of nursing is increasing day by day which is evident from the fact that nations around the world are in need of more nurses. Increase in demand of nurses is due to increase in the number of elderly populatin. Nurses play a role in caring patients, providing information and education to patients, maintain good communication with patients, play a role as patient advocate, demonstrate appropriate empathy to patients, be an active listener and be flexible. Emotional stability is hugely beneficial in the nursing profession.

According to Luitel, nurses should have enough information regarding delivery of nursing care with appropriate nursing skill based on scientific principles and therapeutic knowledge.

In our society, nursing profession is not given that respect which is given to the doctors or other health professionals. Nurses are supremely fundamental aspect of health care delivery. Doctors at most spend only few hours with patients but nurses spend 24 hours with their patients. Therefore, all the people including doctors should understand the importance of nursing profession.