Each time all of us take a visit to the healthcare facility for treatment, our first encounter is always with the nurses. Right from the registration to triage, all the way to the doctor’s room or theater or admission room, nurses always are with us at every step of the way to interact, watch, monitor our health progress and take care of us. Yet they usually go unnoticed or unrecognised by both patients and the institutions.
In order to appreciate the nurses, the International Hospital Kampala (IHK) on Saturday organised a special event to honor them for their commitment and tireless efforts in providing healthcare service. This is in line with this year’s International Nurses Day theme, “Nursing: The Balance of Mind, Body and Spirit”.
The day being celebrated Saturday marks the birthday of Florence Nightingale – an English woman who pioneered modern nursing.
All nurses at hospital committed to the International Nurses Pledge by Nightingale to pass their life in purity and to practice their profession faithfully. To always abstain from whatever is deleterious and mischievous, and to always do all in their power to maintain and elevate the standard of the nursing profession and dedicate themselves to devoted service to human welfare.
Bryan Mayanja, Director of Nursing at IHK says, despite the fact that nursing is a vital element in the healthcare industry, nurses are often the least appreciated and recognised heroes in healthcare facilities, often unnoticed but vital for patient care.
Adding, at every hospital, clinic or dispensaries, nurses are the first point of contact for patients, and often have to be the ones to listen to the patient’s complains, abuses and grievances, Mayanja added, and when patients get well, we don’t wait for them to say a thank, Mayanja adds.
“When patients are admitted to hospitals, they are out of their routine; they are not well physically, so everything is unfit for their needs. Whenever the food is tasteless or late, the ones who get blamed are the nurses who are with them 24/7. And every time patients are unhappy with medical services, they will throw their frustrations to the nurses first,” Mayanja says.
Nursing goes beyond skill and competence to passion and love for the profession. “We are critical thinkers and always have valuable insights of the patients’ progress, which we feed to the doctors to recommend proper diagnosis and treatment” Mayanja further emphasises.
Esme Keyser, a nurse and Chief Operational Officer at IHK says that nurses expend a lot of time and energy to care for patients and often take on graveyard shifts or clock in overtime to ensure that patients’ needs are taken care of.
“Our nurses go the extra mile to provide patients with care. They serve our hospital daily, under challenging circumstances, and continue to be a beacon of light despite the pressing professional challenges. Nursing is the engine room of health services in this country as nurses are essential stakeholders to transform healthcare.” Mrs. Keyser says.
Today, we want all of them to know that the IHK management appreciates them for their tireless efforts and commitment in providing healthcare and being the backbone of this hospital, Mrs. Keyser says.
At the luncheon, the nurses were gifted, thanked and motivated by Specialists including the Medical Director Dr. Michael Oling, the Head of Peadiatrics Dr. Shiba Kituuka Nahurira among others, feted and entertained, with personalized prizes and performances by the nurses themselves.
