Today marks International Nurses Day, commemorating the birth anniversary of the founder of modern nursing, Florence Nightingale.
Beyond her stellar contributions during the Crimean war, leading to the emergence of her now-famous persona “The Lady with the Lamp”, her most important contribution was creating the first secular nursing school! Florence Nightingale thus laid the foundation of professional nursing at the St Thomas hospital which is now part of King’s College London. She was also a mentor to many women, who went on to become the first trained nurses in various countries, including the United States.
Healthcare professionals, medical personnel and caregivers need good educators and a supportive education system to not just perfect critical skills but also engender the warmth of caregiving, which goes beyond the clinical practice of Medicine.
As an educator myself and having taught pre-med and nursing students for many years in core clinical subjects, I too have had the privilege of learning from close quarters the import of this vital profession.
India too has a rich contemporary history of producing not only a great number of nurses but also highly capable, adaptable and conscientious individuals who have proved their mettle in some of the toughest situations including World War II.
So, here’s to our Nurses! May the light of Florence Nightingale’s lamp be a beacon for holistic education and the warmth needed for caregiving! Our Nurses. Our Future.
🎨Henrietta Rae (1881/91) courtesy Wellcome Library, London.
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While there are many expectations for improvements in our world health, due to promises in AI, innovations in omics technologies, materials & nanotechnology etc., the actual realization of excellence in healthcare will boil down to getting some basics right!
Not only excellence in treatment of common ailments, but also on improvement of diagnostic tools and preventive health care/wellness, including:
· Availability of vaccines of all kinds to general public
· Regular, mandatory screening programs for common issues like blood pressure, diabetes as well as cancers & other diseases
· Increase in rehabilitation resources for recovering patients from various illnesses including development of communities where people & families can find the necessary support
· Accessibility & resources promoting inclusivity of people with disabilities
· Quality childcare where children are taken care of and also provided with quality stimulation and excellent nutrition for growth
· Women’s and children’s health - more research and research funding allocation
· Rare diseases research and funding allocation has to increase exponentially
· Organ donation - universal improvements in policies, procedures and their implementation
· Neurodevelopmental and neurodegenerative diseases – increased workforce, research and sensitization
· Geriatric population studies
· Health, fitness and wellness education; nutrition & exercise physiology
· Mental health research, improvement in international policies and sensitization
Some of the biggest challenges will be in implementing all of the above in addition to latest trends in treatment & diagnostics equally among all countries. Ensuring such accessibility, equity and ethics would remain the biggest challenge in our future. Unless new tools and technologies are monitored for safety & ethics, and made available equally for every man, woman and child, we can unfortunately never claim healthcare for all!