Qualities of a nurse: Benevolence personified

PRATIK RIMAL



Groping his left hand across the wall for a support, an old man panted and walked at a pace that seemed like eternity to reach his room, a few doors away from where he stood. “Excuse me, let me help you”, a nurse, clad in complete white dress at Om Hospital, Chabahil, gently said with a smile. Upon hearing the voice, he turned his head with a feeling of relief. Careful not to hurt the patient, she gently, but firmly held him and led him to his ward.



Menaka Adhikari has spent 30 years of her life in nursing profession. An assistant matron at Om Hospital and Research Center, Chabahil, Menaka passed her PCL in 2028 BS, and since then, has been in the profession. “I worked for 19 years at Bir Hospital, and have been working at Om Hospital since its establishment 12 years ago,” Adhikari shares.

Being involved in the profession for such a long time, she shares what it takes to be a good nurse, and what qualities budding nurses need to possess if they are to succeed. “A nurse should be polite,” Adhikari says, adding, “If they are not polite, they’ll cast a negative impression on the patient and their attendants. Such polite nurses should also have a smiling face, as it can win a person’s heart. “When you smile, it gives a feeling of assurance that everything will be alright. And this will boost the willpower and confidence of the patients,” Adhikari shares. However, she clarifies that it is not always easy to smile because nurses too have mood swings and conflicting emotions.



Other qualities that a nurse needs to possess are punctuality, tidiness and flexibility of time. If a nurse isn’t punctual or tidy, she would disappoint the patients and the service she is supposed to cater loses value. “A nurse should also be flexible. When they are asked to attend on duty at specific wards all of a sudden, they should make it on time,” Adhikrai adds.



Sharmila Lamichhane, a nurse at Deluxe Ward of the hospital shared what she learnt at her curriculum and was taught at the hospital itself. “A nurse should be tactful, disciplined, confident, hardworking and patient.”



“We get different patients and face difficult circumstances. I think we should have the tact, confidence and patience to gently, but firmly assure patients and their visitors that what we’re doing is for their own good,” Lamichhane adds.

“The nurses here are more polite and friendly than in other hospitals,” Raman Chettri, 43, a visitor of a patient at room 110 of the hospital opines.



Beena Bhattarai, a PCL pass out from Sushma Koirala Memorial Nursing College, Old Baneshwor, further adds the qualities a nurse should have. “Since we see deaths and serious injuries every day, we need to be emotionally strong,” She also regards communication skills, attentiveness to details as other qualities a nurse should acquire. “We deal with different patients and their visitors. Regardless of the number, we have to be able to attentively listen to the details they give, and reply in simple and clear language,” Bhattarai opines, adding that they should also possess the knack for problem solving.



What Adhikari, Lamichhane, and Bhattarai highlight are qualities that not only nurse, but all people need to possess. These qualities are universal human virtues that people must continually work and rework to pursue. Indeed, people need to be polite, but confident of what they speak. They also need to value time and thus be punctual. Patience is a human virtue which helps one to endure difficulties with tactfulness.