Aster DM Healthcare announces Global Nursing Award
SHARJAH: A UAE homegrown healthcare industry player announced on Monday its landmark International competition envisioned to honour 10 of the approximately 20.7 million nurses ( as per most recent records of the World Health Organisation’s Global Health Observatory), on “International Nurses Day (IND) 2022.”
The year-long search for the 10 world’s most exceptional nurses has been dubbed as the “Aster Guardian Global Nursing Award” of the Aster DM Healthcare, wherein the best of the 10 would be receiving $250,000.00 (Dhs917,500.00) cash prize.
Incidentally, May 12 (Wednesday) is IND, which the International Council of Nurses (ICN) has been celebrating since 1974 to commemorate the birth anniversary of Italian-born English social reformer and Modern Day Nursing founder Florence Nightingale. ICN is a federation of over 130 national nurses associations. The 2021 IND theme is “A Voice to Lead: A Vision for Future Healthcare” as ICN “seeks to show how nursing will look into the future as well as how the profession will transform the next stage of healthcare.”
On Monday, Aster DM Healthcare founder/ chairman/managing director Dr Azad Moopen said: “Nurses form the backbone of healthcare and play the most critical role in patient care, aiding recovery through professional and personal care. They are the real guardians for the patients and aid the entire recovery process.”
“Many of them put in commited and passionate service to their patients despite the risk involved and the extended hours they have to work in situations like the current pandemic,” he also said, citing that this dedicated sector of the international community even prioritise to fulfil their oath over their loved ones.
The first-time global awards aims to recognise the nurses’ sacrifices and commitment, Moopen added.
On the ongoing Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the ICN noted that as of end 2020, total number of nurses from 59 countries who had succumbed to COVID-19 was at 2,262. The highest number of deaths were recorded in the USA, Brazil and Mexico accounting for 60 per cent or 1,357. Iran data reflected that 60,000 of its nurses were infected or 45 per cent of its entire healthcare workforce. Moreover, exponential numbers of nurses in China, USA, Spain, Brazil, Australia, UK, Mexico and 13 African states had complained of all forms of mental health concerns like depression and anxiety, work overload and burnout. In Japan, several nurses quit their jobs. Nurses all over the world may personally apply or may be nominated for the global awards over www.asterguardians.com.