a student-nurse approached me and asked if i could be interviewed. i asked, "about what?" he said they were tasked to ask a nurse five questions. having gone through that back in college, i said yes. [below is the text of the interview]. after the interview, i was brought in deep thoughts, recalling what brought me into this profession, and then i found myself comparing it to how student-nurses and their families are motivated into taking the nursing path these days.
the process or reasons for deciding which path to pursue in life is influenced by many factors or the lack of it. it can be affected by deep thoughts for self, some for shallow and temporary reasons, by family's stature or economic prowess, or temporally by ambitions.
the scheduled local nursing board examination in the philippines will test a record number of hopefuls at 80,000. being a nurse and seeing the decline in the quality of health care delivery in the country, i can't see myself being happy about it. while another flood of new nurses will be set, less and less of them get hired and less and less opportunity is given to those who have obtained their licenses before this batch of hopefuls.
blame this to the lack of regulation by authorized agencies on the new schools and review centers, and the lack of qualifying tools the schools are implementing on their students.
many hopefuls are themselves motivated by the fact that nurses abroad are paid filthy bucks and they believe nursing as their vehicle to going abroad and obtaining riches. while half of the hopefuls are not the ones motivated by this fact but by or their families are. their family/parents are investing on them because they believe egging their sons or daughters into taking up nursing will bring them riches and give them a better life. couple these domestic motivation by the schools and review centers' own motivation of milking money from these hopefuls, seeing that student-nurses are one of the hottest commodities or produce to milk money from.
the result? a decline in the standards of education, a non-qualified student-nurse, a non-qualified review center, a non-qualified nurse, a non-qualified staff. because there are so many nursing schools now, but less hospital, less exposure for student-nurses are given. there are even schools which just pride themselves of having a state-of-the-art laboratory to augment the lack of exposure the student-nurses should be having through their affiliate-hospitals. students need exposure, they need qualified professors and instructors, but students too need to be qualified if we are to hope for a better health care simply because nurses are the frontliners. we can't rely our health care on non-qualified ones.
i feel for this profession, i have seen how the foundation of this profession is fast declining. i feel for this profession, i have seen how many staff there are who do not even know how to insert catheter. i feel for the profession, i say the governing body of this profession should do something. i feel for this profession, and i say the authorized agencies should regulate the nursing schools and review centers that do not perform well and do not have qualified facilities and faculty. i feel for this profession, and i say families and hopefuls themselves should qualify themselves and understand that like any other profession, nursing is not for everyone. frankly, if we don't do something, we all shall absorb the consequences of this and it will definitely be not something everyone can take. while diseases and illnesses affect everyone and that access to health is for every one [which is not the case here], nurses is and will not be for everyone, so let's not hang it by the ropes.
What is profession for you?
Books will tell you that profession is a discipline that you acquire after completing what is required of it, but I believe whether you’re a doctor, a nurse, a teacher or a pharmacist, it is a vocation - a call to service.
What is your concept of nursing?
Nursing for me is a vocation, a noble opportunity to provide care in a professional manner. Nowadays, you can be a nurse but you may not be able to practice it. There is the opportunity but you may not be able to practice it.
Why did you take up nursing?
Because I look good in white. Honestly, I did not plan for this to happen. During our time, very few people take up the course. Everyone was in the band wagon of taking PT. Lining up to enroll in PT will take you the whole day, but not with nursing. You can finish your enrollment in an hour or two. I tried to enroll in PT but the enrollment closed out on me so I was advised to enroll in nursing by the academic affairs and to just transfer to PT after the second semester. That was the reason I got into nursing, at first. But, I fell in love with the course or profession if you’d call it. So, that's it.
What are the good qualities of a nurse?
I think a good nurse should first and foremost be nonjudgmental, without bias. Because if you’re not, you will procrastinate and in doing so, it will hinder you from practicing your profession efficiently and more effectively. Next, you should be a good listener. The practice of nursing is taxing, but it should not devoid you of the importance of listening to your client’s needs. There are identified and unidentified needs, and listening to your clients will help you cover them all.
I also believe that a good nurse should always be a student of the profession. Having said that, a good nurse should always try to learn more to afford your self and your clients the best possible nursing care you can provide, at least from your end.
Being a nurse requires that you are strong and patient enough to deal with anything and everything you’ll be faced with in this practice. If you have those qualities, I believe you are good to go into becoming a better nurse than you are today, even if you’re just a student-nurse, at least for now.
What is the best part about being a nurse?
More than the opportunity to get compensated for the profession, I think the best part is still the satisfaction and the fulfillment it gives you when your client appreciates you for the comfort and care you provide them; when you see them happy and contented with what you did, when you are able to provide comfort and then they thank you for it, for me, that’s the best part of it. It is an indicator that you are doing good and that you have answered a call, your profession.
Interviewed by Karl Laurence C. Valeña
