When I entered into the nursing profession, I was teenager, while other teenagers were enjoying college and a comfortable lifestyle. I was providing nursing care to several patients, right from birth to death. My duties were strenuous and I used to often work in overcrowded wards including intensive care units, along with my studies. I learnt a lot by experience and by observing what is happening around me, which is helping me even today to arrive at some crucial decisions and understand my juniors.
Because of my teachers and senior colleagues, I could accomplish professional excellence and develop into a well-trained nurse. To excel in my profession was my dream and I pursued it decade after decade and completed my post graduation in nursing with great support of my husband and children. It took 30 years to achieve my dream and I am satisfied that I am working as nursing superintendent in a well-known organization. I am happy that with strong support from the management I have been able to bring improvements in my field. I want to help highly motivated and committed nurses who can be agents of change to our nursing profession. This may be a story of nurses of my generation.
Today, the scene is different. There is immense need of transformational leadership in nursing and pooling together of resources for improving nursing education and nursing service which will help clinical nurses to face challenges at workplace and strike a work and life balance. Nursing is in a state of rapid change due to globalization and technical advancement. The current nursing challenges include: shortage of nursing staff, leadership issues, job satisfaction and good work environments. Pay, autonomy and professional status are most likely to have positive impact on satisfaction status. Specialization has been articulated as a mark of advancement in the nursing profession in response to this advancement, the role of clinical nurse specialists and nurse practitioners had developed.
For the nursing profession, you need both education and experience. Unfortunately, more qualified nurses should take up teaching as well. In some colleges new teachers are teaching nursing. They do not have adequate experience in the clinical field. Can such provide quality education to student nurses who are going to work in clinical area? Aren’t we are putting our patients’ lives at risk? On the other hand, private nursing homes are appointing a girl in white uniform who is just taught on job work and providing nursing care to sick. Trained nurses are not adequately paid in private sector. Even their specialization is not recognized for payment, which de-motivates them from pursuing further education.
To overcome the acute dearth of qualified nurses we need to train many more nurses. But the practical situation is that student nurses who are admitted for training are used for service purpose as cheap labour but after completion of training they are not absorbed in the same institute due to government restrictions. Nurses on job who would like to continue further studies face many obstacles such as, passiveness of senior nurse administrators, and some rules which are not properly communicated to the nurses.
Today’s nurse is stressed at work at the same time manages the home front as a daughter, wife, sister and so on and her whole life she serves as a caring mother and nurse. There are lots of expectations from working women like her on both fronts. We all nurses feel that, there has to be uniformity in the pay scale of nurses as per their grade capability and specialization. Professional competence must be recognized in the clinical field through performance appraisals at regular intervals while promoting to higher grades.
Representatives of our profession must be actively involved at all levels in the nursing and health sector. Basic working conditions must be fulfilled in nursing homes. Health insurance for nurses who have potential risk of developing health hazards. Leaders from the nursing field should take up the challenge to develop their own human resources dedicated to the society to change its perception towards nursing profession.
SWAPNA JOSHI
NURSING SUPERINTENDENT
TATA MEMORIAL HOSPITAL
SECRETARY TRAINED NURSES ASSOCIATION OF INDIA
MAHARASHTRA STATE BRANCH
