Clinic Nurse. Photo: Courtesy.
Since 1965, International Nursing Day has been celebrated every May 12 around the world, with the firm objective of paying tribute to all nurses who, worldwide, carry out this laudable work for all humanity.
In the field of health, the role of nursing professionals is essential to save lives and help in the recovery of health; and in this context, constant training is also essential, considering that it is a fairly broad field, and in effect, providing better and quality care to patients.
“Vocation, human value and wanting to continue growing in the profession is important; a nurse, a nurse should not be conformist; Nursing is so broad in its field that staying in the mold is not an option. You have to continue specializing; Although the title allows a quick job opportunity, nursing is wanting to do, we must think about how caring for the patient is how you would want your family member to be cared for; the human side is very important and it is what is often devalued either due to overload or due to little professional appreciation”, expressed the Lic. Irene Rojas.
Irene Rojas has a degree in Nursing since she was 22 years old. She has been working at the Hospital de Clínicas for 11 years, first as an assistant and then as a nurse. She is currently in the Adult Emergency Service, an area where she is different every day. “My day to day as a nurse is relative. In the emergency each case is different; from mild to severe, We are not always with the same patient nor do we treat the same pathology, each patient is different, and demands the maximum effort. We find ourselves with patients who often do not collaborate and relatives who do not recognize our work; our work depends a lot on collaboration”.
Self care and mental hygiene
Although each person copes with daily situations in a different way, Ms. Rojas states that self-care and mental hygiene must be considered by the professional so as not to decline or lose the mission of nursing.
“It is a very sacrificed profession and to alleviate what is the day-to-day work, because I work 12 hours in two institutions, spend time doing psychological therapy, go to church and spend time with family and friends. Each one carries their own personal problems and again carry stories for each patient, from sad to complicated and hopeless, which generate frustration, and also the good ones that are when the patient says goodbye recovered and grateful; then that absorbed overload demands that one take care of one’s own health. We hear it said that we lose sensitivity, but what happens is that with experience it matures. Empathy is not lost, but we must have problem-solving skills, the urgency does not give you time to think, it is to act, to solve”
Chikungunya epidemic
The Nursing graduate recalled how difficult it had been during the pandemic, and again with the Chikungunya epidemic that hit the country, indicating that this lately caused the beginning of Burnout Syndrome.
“With the Chikungunya epidemic we are also facing an unknown disease, without a treatment to relieve joint pain; we could not touch the patient because of the pain he felt, it was exhausting; even when we had to multiply in two or three, because it was also the turn of colleagues and they had to rest and as we know, this disease leaves joint sequelae of prolonged recovery, we practiced empathy and help with our colleagues doing our work and helping to do the other’s”.
The nursing professional mentioned that this profession is very noble, and whoever exercises it must embrace it with commitment and vocation. He stressed that everyone who works in nursing must follow the path of constant training and not stay in the mold, train by and for the patient; because continuous training allows quality work with the patient and family members, to detect her needs, to make her convalescence more bearable.
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