BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN

TWO veteran nurses reminded yesterday new or aspiring nurses to have a passion for the job and to take care of their patients like family members.

Their advise came ahead of today’s celebration of the “International Nurses Day”, which carries the theme ‘Nurses: A Force for Change – Care effective, Cost effective’.

The event is celebrated each year on May 12, the birthday of Florence Nightingale, a nurse who served during the Crimean War in the 1850s and has been the face of modern nursing ever since.

“Today’s nurses are not just caring for the sick,” said Hjh Rostinah Hj Kefli, a Nursing Officer under the Divisional Nursing Head of Internal Medicine in Raja Isteri Pengiran Anak Saleha (RIPAS) Hospital.

She has been a nurse for over 30 years and said that her job “is much more than taking care of patients with illness, it is the devotion to provide utmost care paired with passion”.

“Every nurse knows that caring for a patient is to care for the entire person as a whole, not just their physical body but also their feelings and the environment they are in,” said the nursing officer.

She emphasised the importance of connection or bond between patients and nurses, stating that when a patient is admitted at the hospital and diagnosed with an illness, this is when the role of nurses plays an important part.

“Patients come in and walk out the door everyday and we as nurses must feel the need to make the patients feel like home during their admission. We (should) put their comfort first before our own,” she said.

Hjh Rostinah advised new nursing recruits not to pursue the field if they don’t have the passion for the job.

The nursing officer said the nursing role is rapidly evolving as nurses are tasked with an even wider range of responsibilities, aside from caring for the patients.

“We as a health-care personnel not only clean after the patients, change them, dress them, bathe them and ensure they have taken their prescribed medicines, we are also problem-solvers. We fix little things too like hooking the curtain to its rail when it breaks,” said Hjh Rostinah.

Hartini Abdul Manan, Nurse Officer under the critical care medicine of RIPAS hospital, said that nursing has always been her passion and being in the care-giving industry for over 20 years now, she sees her patients much like her own family.

“When you treat patients with care and patience, especially during their most difficult times, they will forever remember that moment. It could be little things like a simple greeting in the morning, that alone can make their day better,” she explained.

Advising current and future nurses, Hartini urged for them to be patient, kind and soft spoken when dealing with patients, especially the fragile ones.

Maghrib prayer followed by tahlil and Doa Selamat, Dikir Marhaban and Isya’ prayer were held last night at Suri Seri Begawan Raja Pengiran Anak Damit Mosque in Kg Madang to commemorate the International Nurses Day and to celebrate the five nurses who just recently embraced Islam.

Present as the guest of honour was the Minister of Health, YB Pehin Orang Kaya Johan Pahlawan Dato Seri Setia Hj Adanan Begawan Pehin Siraja Khatib Dato Seri Setia Hj Mohd Yusof and other MoH officials, including the Permanent Secretary, Datin Paduka Dr Hjh Norlila Dato Paduka Hj Abd Jalil.

The Brunei Times