By Priyanka Bakshi
Florence Nightingale is her idol. Ever since she took to nursing as a profession, she has been striving to serve the sick to the best of her ability. Her 35 years’ dedicated service was honoured when the Pune unit of Trained Nurses’ Association of India (TNAI) bestowed the ’Best Practising Nurse’ award on her. Sarita Londhe, nurse at the Sassoon General Hospital, received the award on the occasion of the World Nurse Day.
TNAI selected Sarita from among 45 nominations from city’s various hospitals and nursing colleges. "Appreciation does make one feel good but truly speaking, it hardly matters. My real award is the blessings I get from the patients and their kin," says this modest lady.
Sarita has two more awards to her credit. In 2008, she got the award instituted by Mahalaxmi Trust and in 2009 by Rotary club. On what keeps her going, she says, "I am a firm believer in God and derive my motivation from Him. All these years while juggling between home and office, I felt Him by my side always. My parents too stood by me and used to look after my kids while I had night shifts," she says. Support of colleagues is also crucial, she says and names matrons Tara Share and Nagargoje for being supportive always.
According to Sarita, looking after patients is only one aspect of the noble profession. Dealing with their kin is equally important. "One has to have a brave heart while confronting a situation when a patient is on a deathbed. At times, relatives pressure us to administer drugs or put a patient on ventilator in the absence of doctors. We feel helpless as we are unable to do so unless asked by doctors," she says.
About never–to–be–forgot– ten experiences, she refers to the case of a prisoner from Pakistan, "He was an old man and admitted during my training days. I was asked to look after him as punishment. Whenever a trainee makes a mistake, she would be told to serve such patients, He was on his deathbed and had several bedsore’s, Peeved by his condition, I voluntarily took the charge and served him till he died after several months,"
She has seen a lot of sufferings in all these years. "People would leave their old and ailing parents in the hospitals. It is very sad that today’s generation is running away from their responsibilities," she says,
About the profession, she says, "It pains to see that there is little recognition associated with it. People usually look down upon it. This attitude of society needs to be changed so that more and more youngsters join this noble profession."
Source: Times of India
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