The noble profession of nursing

There is an acute shortage of nurses in Bangladesh but many young women who want to pursue nursing as profession are unable to do so

In the modern day, be it in urban or rural life, hospitals have become an integral part of our lives. What would healthcare be without nurses? They are our front lines of patient safety, the heart and soul of hospitals and ICUs, and the people who comfort so many patients in their time of need. Despite the frequent risk of burnout and exhaustion, high-stress situations and long shifts, nurses seem to find time every day to go above and beyond for patients—and sometimes for complete strangers. Be it on Eid or any other public holidays, strikes or natural impediments, we find the services of nurses in the hospitals. The demand of service  from them is so normally expected , we forget that the nurses are human beings like all of us are. The stories of Florence Nightingale well known to us since our school going ages. Nightingale was a prodigious and versatile writer. In January 1974, 12 May was chosen to celebrate the day as it is the anniversary of the birth of Florence Nightingale, the founder of modern nursing.

 Each year, ICN prepares and distributes the International Nurses' Day Kit.The kit contains educational and public information materials, for use by nurses everywhere. In her lifetime, much of her published work was concerned with spreading medical knowledge. Some of her tracts were written in simple English  so that they could easily be understood by those with poor literary skills. She also helped popularise the graphical presentation of statistical data. Much of her writing, including her extensive work on religion and mysticism,  has only been published posthumously. Florence Night 12 May 1820 – 13 August 1910) was an English social reformer and statistician, and the founder of modern nursing.  She came to prominence while serving as a manager of nurses trained by her during the Crimean War, where she organised the tending to wounded soldiers. She gave nursing a highly favourable reputation and became an icon of Victorian culture, especially in the persona of "The Lady with the Lamp" making rounds of wounded soldiers at night. On 21 October 1854, she and the staff of 38 women volunteer nurses that she trained, including her aunt Mai Smith, and 15 Catholic nuns were sent (under the authorisation of Sidney Herbert) to the Ottoman Empire. Nightingale was assisted in Paris by her friend Mary Clarke. They were deployed about  339 miles across the Black Sea from In Crimea,  where the main British camp was based.
The ICN was founded in 1899 with Great Britain, the United States, and Germany as charter members.The ICN is governed by a Council of National Representatives (CNR). The CNR is the governing body of the ICN and sets policy, admits members, selects a board of directors, and sets dues. As of 2013, there were 135 National Representatives (one for each member organization). National Representatives are selected by each member association. The CNR meets every two years. Between meetings of the CNR, the ICN is governed by a 16-member board of directors. Members of the board include the ICN president and 15 directors elected on the basis of proportional representation from the ICN's seven geographic areas. Directors are term-limited to two consecutive four-year terms of office. The board meets at least once a year, although it usually meets three to four times a year.
Nursing Ethics is a branch of applied ethics that concerns itself with activities in the field of nursing. Nursing ethics shares many principles with medical ethics, such as beneficence and respect for autonomy. It can be distinguished by its emphasis on relationships, human dignity and collaborative care. Although much of nursing ethics can appear similar to medical ethics, there are some factors that differentiate it. Brier-Mackie suggests that nurses' focus on care and nurture, rather than cure of illness, results in a distinctive ethics. Furthermore, nursing ethics emphasizes the ethics of everyday practice rather than moral dilemma.  
Nursing ethics is more concerned with developing the caring relationship than broader principles, such as beneficence and justice. For example, a concern to promote beneficence may be expressed in traditional medical ethics by the exercise of paternalism, where the health professional makes a decision based upon a perspective of acting in the patient's best interests. However, it is argued by some that this approach acts against person-centred values found in nursing ethics. In terms of standard ethical theory, respecting dignity can also be aligned with having a respect for people and their autonomous choices. People are then enabled to make decisions about their own treatment. Amongst other things this grounds the practice of informed consent that should be respected by the nurse, although much of the debate lies in the discussion of cases where people are unable to make choices about their own treatment due to being incapacitated  or having a mental illness that affects their judgement. A suggested way to maintain autonomy is for the person to write an advance directive, outlining how they wish to be treated in the event of their inability to make an informed choice, thus avoiding unwarranted paternalism. Another theme is confidentiality  and this is an important principle in many nursing ethical codes. This is where information about the person is only shared with others after permission of the person, unless it is felt that the information must be shared to comply with a higher duty such as preserving life.[7] Related to information giving is the debate relating to truth telling in interactions with the person in care. There is a balance between people having the information required to make an autonomous decision and, on the other hand, not being unnecessarily distressed by the truth.  Generally the balance is in favour of truth telling due to respect for autonomy, but sometimes people will ask not to be told, or may lack the capacity to understand the implications. 
There is an acute shortage of nurses in Bangladesh but many young women who want to pursue nursing as profession are unable to do so. Women are discriminated and are not being given equal opportunities in their career progression. Moreover, the lack of reciprocity in respect from the patients or their attendants towards nurses are really in an apologetic situation. The training institutes are not being properly equipped with the required curriculum or facilities for training. The people who travel abroad even in the neighbouring countries like India, Thailand or Singapore can easily differentiate the quality of healthcare being provided. In fact, the potential of occupying the overseas market by way of properly trained nurses is immense. The profession is now captured by Philippines, India and Thailand and if we are able to cater to this market, our foreign exchange earnings will certainly increase manifold and at the same time we can fill in the already vacuum being created in our domestic health care services. Let this journey begin as an ode to the memories of Florence Nightingale. 

The writer, a banker by profession, has worked both in local and overseas market with various foreign and local banks in different positions

 

The noble profession of nursing

There is an acute shortage of nurses in Bangladesh but many young women who want to pursue nursing as profession are unable to do so

In the modern day, be it in urban or rural life, hospitals have become an integral part of our lives. What would healthcare be without nurses? They are our front lines of patient safety, the heart and soul of hospitals and ICUs, and the people who comfort so many patients in their time of need. Despite the frequent risk of burnout and exhaustion, high-stress situations and long shifts, nurses seem to find time every day to go above and beyond for patientsand sometimes for complete strangers. Be it on Eid or any other public holidays, strikes or natural impediments, we find the services of nurses in the hospitals. The demand of service from them is so normally expected , we forget that the nurses are human beings like all of us are. The stories of Florence Nightingale well known to us since our school going ages. Nightingale was a prodigious and versatile writer. In January 1974, 12 May was chosen to celebrate the day as it is the anniversary of the birth of Florence Nightingale, the founder of modern nursing. Each year, ICN prepares and distributes the International Nurses Day Kit.The kit contains educational and public information materials, for use by nurses everywhere. In her lifetime, much of her published work was concerned with spreading medical knowledge. Some of her tracts were written in simple English so that they could easily be understood by those with poor literary skills. She also helped popularise the graphical presentation of statistical data. Much of her writing, including her extensive work on religion and mysticism, has only been published posthumously. Florence Night 12 May 1820 13 August 1910) was an English social reformer and statistician, and the founder of modern nursing. She came to prominence while serving as a manager of nurses trained by her during the Crimean War, where she organised the tending to wounded soldiers. She gave nursing a highly favourable reputation and became an icon of Victorian culture, especially in the persona of The Lady with the Lamp making rounds of wounded soldiers at night. On 21 October 1854, she and the staff of 38 women volunteer nurses that she trained, including her aunt Mai Smith, and 15 Catholic nuns were sent (under the authorisation of Sidney Herbert) to the Ottoman Empire. Nightingale was assisted in Paris by her friend Mary Clarke. They were deployed about 339 miles across the Black Sea from In Crimea, where the main British camp was based. The ICN was founded in 1899 with Great Britain, the United States, and Germany as charter members.The ICN is governed by a Council of National Representatives (CNR). The CNR is the governing body of the ICN and sets policy, admits members, selects a board of directors, and sets dues. As of 2013, there were 135 National Representatives (one for each member organization). National Representatives are selected by each member association. The CNR meets every two years. Between meetings of the CNR, the ICN is governed by a 16-member board of directors. Members of the board include the ICN president and 15 directors elected on the basis of proportional representation from the ICNs seven geographic areas. Directors are term-limited to two consecutive four-year terms of office. The board meets at least once a year, although it usually meets three to four times a year. Nursing Ethics is a branch of applied ethics that concerns itself with activities in the field of nursing. Nursing ethics shares many principles with medical ethics, such as beneficence and respect for autonomy. It can be distinguished by its emphasis on relationships, human dignity and collaborative care. Although much of nursing ethics can appear similar to medical ethics, there are some factors that differentiate it. Brier-Mackie suggests that nurses focus on care and nurture, rather than cure of illness, results in a distinctive ethics. Furthermore, nursing ethics emphasizes the ethics of everyday practice rather than moral dilemma. Nursing ethics is more concerned with developing the caring relationship than broader principles, such as beneficence and justice. For example, a concern to promote beneficence may be expressed in traditional medical ethics by the exercise of paternalism, where the health professional makes a decision based upon a perspective of acting in the patients best interests. However, it is argued by some that this approach acts against person-centred values found in nursing ethics. In terms of standard ethical theory, respecting dignity can also be aligned with having a respect for people and their autonomous choices. People are then enabled to make decisions about their own treatment. Amongst other things this grounds the practice of informed consent that should be respected by the nurse, although much of the debate lies in the discussion of cases where people are unable to make choices about their own treatment due to being incapacitated or having a mental illness that affects their judgement. A suggested way to maintain autonomy is for the person to write an advance directive, outlining how they wish to be treated in the event of their inability to make an informed choice, thus avoiding unwarranted paternalism. Another theme is confidentiality and this is an important principle in many nursing ethical codes. This is where information about the person is only shared with others after permission of the person, unless it is felt that the information must be shared to comply with a higher duty such as preserving life.[7] Related to information giving is the debate relating to truth telling in interactions with the person in care. There is a balance between people having the information required to make an autonomous decision and, on the other hand, not being unnecessarily distressed by the truth. Generally the balance is in favour of truth telling due to respect for autonomy, but sometimes people will ask not to be told, or may lack the capacity to understand the implications. There is an acute shortage of nurses in Bangladesh but many young women who want to pursue nursing as profession are unable to do so. Women are discriminated and are not being given equal opportunities in their career progression. Moreover, the lack of reciprocity in respect from the patients or their attendants towards nurses are really in an apologetic situation. The training institutes are not being properly equipped with the required curriculum or facilities for training. The people who travel abroad even in the neighbouring countries like India, Thailand or Singapore can easily differentiate the quality of healthcare being provided. In fact, the potential of occupying the overseas market by way of properly trained nurses is immense. The profession is now captured by Philippines, India and Thailand and if we are able to cater to this market, our foreign exchange earnings will certainly increase manifold and at the same time we can fill in the already vacuum being created in our domestic health care services. Let this journey begin as an ode to the memories of Florence Nightingale. The writer, a banker by profession, has worked both in local and overseas market with various foreign and local banks in different positions