Florence Nightingales of Bhutan

They are mothers, sisters, friends whose delicate hands have touched many lives. They are the one who tirelessly tend to wounded, sick, diseased and weak; and they have been there with in every difficult time. Yes, they are the Florence Nightingales of Bhutan.

As Bhutan marked the International Nurses Day on May 12, our reporter, Sonam Phuntsho, looks at what it takes and means to be a nurse.

It is late night, and in emergency department you will meet Kinley Yangzom, a nurse who has been serving for last 11 years, getting ready to do her rounds. And she says she is happy doing what she does the best- helping sick.

“You have people coming with severe pains and when they leave the emergency ward, they go perfectly fine. I feel proud of the fact that I am a nurse because we can help them,” she says.

In the next floor at the paediatric ward, in her pink uniform, Karma Lhamo, who just completed her probation period, said she has found a peace in her work. “Nursing is a noble profession. Some say you need to be religious to be a Buddhist but I think being a nurse itself is a religion to me.”

A father of four-year old daughter and a nurse in his 10^th year, Gembo Dorji was quick in answering that nursing for him initially started as a career but became his first love after his wife.“I am proud of my job. We care for sick and strangers. When they are treated here and get well, we get satisfaction. This is a noble job since we treat patients and this is service to the mankind.”

And Pratima Chettri, who recently got married to a man, and who respects her profession, says she finds nothing but love in helping people. “I joined nurse out of my own interest. I find pleasure in doing this.”

But love, happiness and satisfaction take away tremendous amount of time. Nurses are required to work round the clock and they cannot miss it. Sometimes there are sleepless nights and stories are same everywhere in any hospital in the country.

In Jigme Dorji Wangchuck National Referral Hospital, there are about 200 nurses for 13 wards, and each of the ward has 36 beds, not including the diagnostic units and cabins they attend. And the numbers of people coming are increasing. On an average, a single nurse attends to 12 patients.

As per the Health Ministry, the national referral hospital requires about 500 nurses more to meet the standard patient-nurse ratio. Well that is a different story.

Let’s see what they lose for these love and services that they hold with high regard. The answer is same- families.

GemboDorji: “Yes, there are times you are totally exhausted when you reach home. You cannot spend quality time with your family.”

Pratima Chettri: “It is challenging when you are required to be at home and at the same time, have to attend you patients.”

Kinley Yangzom:  “We do not get much time with families. We have to sacrifice our personal time. Sometimes it is frustrating.”

Karma Lhamo:  “We miss family get-together. They say our job takes away family time.”

But every time these nurses have a choice, they choose works over their families because they have theirs’ support.

Karma Lhamo: “When I come to work, I forget what I am missing. At the end of the day, I am satisfied, though i will be exhausted.”

Gembo Dorji, wearing a smile on his face: “My wife is co-operative. She says serving a sick is a noble deed. So they are supportive and they like what I do.”

Kinley Yangzom:  “When I go home and look back, knowing how I was able to help people even if it meant sacrificing my family, I am satisfied.”

Pratima Chettri: “Yes, he is co-operative and he respects my profession. Since I chose to become a nurse out of my own interest, he is happy with that.”

These are their stories and there are many similar stories untold and unheard, many from the remote parts of the country, where some have to walk for days to serve the people. But the hands that is believed to have been sent by God continue the work – helping poor, rich, sick, diseased, old, young – and they  do not ask anything in return. They are mothers, sisters and friends. And they are nurses.