Patients are of paramount importance, says caregiver
LUCKNOW The two kids of nurse Seema Shukla of Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences (SGPGIMS) are missing her terribly, as she has hardly interacted with them for the past few weeks.
“Although I am working in pulmonary medicine ward, we are taking all precautions to save our family from hospital acquired infections. Just think about the nurses working in Covid hospital who are not able to see their family members for days together,” she said.
Known as ‘didi’ among PGI staff, Seema is president of Nurses Association and is known for her spirit to serve patients and fight for nurses’ rights.
She feels that often nurses don’t get recognition in recovery of patients which they deserve.
Talking about experience of nurses in corona ward she said , “When we were told about this disease , no one knew how to deal with it but we decided to take maximum precautions while treating patients. Nurses are also vulnerable to infections and have families.”
She said, “The contribution of nurses is always undermined despite their major role in recovery of patients. Without proper nursing, how many corona
:
patients would have survived ? But how many patients acknowledged the contribution off nurses after their recovery? Every patient remembers the doctor who treated him but he forgets the name of the nurse who attended to him on every call. ”
She said, “Today we remember Florence Nightingale’s contribution in medical field. I am proud to say that we are all following in her footsteps in the fight against coronavirus.”
Illustrating her point, she said , “I received a call just a few hours back and a nurse serving in corona ward asked me arrange medical care for her five-year -old son who was ill. Only her mother was at home because her husband is posted out of station. I ensured that her son is attended by a doctor in our general hospital . I just told the nurse that her son was improving.”
“So nurses serve patients despite their family members falling ill,” she said.
“I have to complete my duties in pulmonary medicine ward and then attend to all the complaints of nurses which they face in their professional and personal life. For the past 45 days I have been unable to give time to my two kids and my in-laws,” she added.
She said , “I am living in a separate room in my home. I leave home at 8am and there is no fixed time to return. It is always late night when the kids are asleep. It has been over a month when my kids talked to me.”