International Nurses Day today: ‘Nursing not just job, livelihood; it’s service to humanity’

Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): Veteran nurses say that for them their work is not a job or means of livelihood but a way of serving humanity. They say that providing relief and succour to suffering human beings is something that gives them immense happiness and satisfaction, which a few professions in the world can give. On the eve of International Nurses Day, Free Press talked to some nurses from the state who have been associated with the profession for decades and have won recognition for their excellence work and dedication to duty.

Excerpts :

‘Satisfaction one gets serving compensates for the pain’

Rashmi Pandekar

Rashmi Pandekar, 66, retired this year after serving as a nurse at the Mahatma Gandhi Government District Hospital, Dewas for 42 years. The President’s Award for nurses was presented to her by the President Droupadi Murmu in November 2022. Rashmi is a single mother, having lost her husband in 1997. Going beyond the call of duty, she did her best to serve the suffering. “The satisfaction and happiness that one gets by saving a life more than compensates for the pain and discomfort of our taxing work,” she says. She is now working for ‘Madhumeh-mukta Bharat’.

Nursing not just a job but is much more than that

Margaret Joseph

Margaret Joseph, Nursing Superintendent at the MY Hospital, Indore, has been a nurse for 38 years now. She has been feted with numerous awards including Covid Warrior and Nightingale awards for her dedication to duty. “During the Covid-19 pandemic, there was so much to do that I didn’t go home for a week,” she recalls. Margaret lost her husband to Covid but did not allow even that to come in the way of the discharge of her duty. “When I joined this profession, I was just 18. My only objective was job security and a decent income. But as years passed by, I fell in love with my work. I realised that nursing is not just a job. It is much more than that. We serve humanity and it gives one immense satisfaction and mental peace,” she says.

‘Profession not only gives satisfaction but peace too’

Prafull Bala Martin

Prafull Bala Martin, Deputy Nursing Superintendent at Hamidia Hospital, Bhopal, is associated with the profession for 42 years. She gave her services in the Burns Ward and she has been felicitated by Gandhi Medical College thrice for her excellent work. “To work in the Burn Ward is very difficult. And that’s why most people avoid it. Earlier, I also didn't want but when I started working there I realised that it is the best place to relieve people of their immense suffering,” she says, adding that she inherited the profession from her mother who was also a nurse.