‘Ordinary’ people doing extraordinary work
INTERNATIONAL Nurses Day marks the birthday of Florence Nightingale, widely recognised as the founder of modern nursing. It is a good opportunity to celebrate and pay respects to our many valuable nurses who perform important and necessary work.
They are the essential frontline “foot soldiers” in our health system. They ensure that vulnerable patients are cared for with dignity and respect. Hence, nurses play both key health and social roles in advancing our communities’ welfare.
International Nurses Day is a good time to say thanks to all our nurses. Whether they work at a public hospital, private hospital, aged care or nursing home, or the workplace, they are making a significant contribution to our nation’s progress as they look after our sick and injured workforce.
Experts stress that Malaysia faces an “unprecedented” nursing shortage – leading to long queues at emergency departments, delays in admissions, and impacted patienthandling capacity.
Our hospitals must proactively make sound use of digital transformation, so that nurses can work smarter. This frees them from paperwork and allows them to provide more personalised care for patients.
Our greying population is in dire need of quality nursing care. Our Health Ministry must develop sound nurses’ occupational health and safety standards, and monitor them rigorously. Overworked and overstressed nurses lead to nurses exiting their noble profession.
The government needs to implement better pay and conditions and increase the budget for healthcare.
The pandemic highlighted how critical, and at times dangerous, nurses’ work can be. International Nurses Day is a time to reflect on how fortunate we are to be served by so many “ordinary” people doing extraordinary work.
SZE LOONG STEVE NGEOW Kajang