Services of 125 Nursing Assistants in Sayaji Hospital ease burden of nursing staff

After joining as a nursing assistant, I can also take pride in being a Corona Warrior -Hetvi Patel

About 125 young boys and girls have been providing various health care services to the patients as nursing assistants in the Corona treatment department of Sayaji Hospital for the last 15 days. These people have completed their final year B.Sc Nursing as well as completed a bachelor’s degree in G.N.M. nursing and is currently providing invaluable services during this time of crisis as part of a mandatory internship.

For the patients their services and care treatment is becoming a relief and for the existing nursing staff it ease their burden of working.

There was a huge inflow of patients in the early days, with little knowledge of the new disease, causing patients to experience mental fear and confusion and consequently increasing the burden on existing nursing staff, said Dr. O.B. Belim Nodal officer. In view of the need to increase the nursing staff, the officer on special duty and the Secretary of Education, Dr. Vinod Rao’s decision to hire final year as well as internship nursing students as nursing assistants.

It is the part of an internship as a nursing assistant and to increase the availability of nursing human resources following the provisions of the law which has proved useful.

Today with the availability of 125 students from various nursing colleges including government, the scope of nursing services has increased. These people are getting very useful work experience which will be crucial in shaping their future careers in the field of nursing.

Now postgraduate and Ph.D. study can be done in nursing. In future any of these assistant students or students possibly will get a Ph.D. on a subject like nursing management of Covid patients.

In addition to a monthly stipend of Rs 10,000, these people are being provided free accommodation in the hostel, snacks and meals and meals during duty in the ward as well as other facilities. Features like mask, hand gloves, PPE kit, sanitizer, head cover are being provided to protect them against infection. The fear of this disease is being felt by all in the society at a time when these people are performing their duty with courage and sense of duty in the first step of their careers. This step of Dr. Vinod Rao is proving to increase the ease and effectiveness of treatment.

Nursing assistants Vaishali Trivedi and Hetvi Patel, who have joined the Corona ward directly from the nursing college, said, the pandemic is an extraordinary challenge in the history of health and there was a thought in their minds about how to help the patients.

By joining as a Nursing Assistant they too can take the pride of a Corona warrior. Here they are getting very useful work experience of all advanced treatment services from basic to ICU which will be useful in shaping their future career.

Hetvi Patel and Sejal Wislot said, it was very satisfying to have the opportunity to take care of the patients just like their relatives. Here they can give intimate support so that the patient’s morale and confidence increases that he will get better soon.

Here they have a rich experience of advanced treatment related to regular treatment of patients like giving medicine, pills, injections, checking diabetes, BP just like the regular staff.

Music therapy, exercises and sports have been started for the patients which boosts their morale. The guidance of experienced physicians and staff enriches their knowledge.

Janaki Shah has been a staff nurse at Sayaji Hospital for the last 15 years and is currently serving in the Covid department for the last 6 months. The arrival of nursing assistants seems to be a workload sharing and a great relief.

According to her, now that the availability of nursing staff is increasing against the number of patients, better care can be taken of each patient which is improving the recovery rate. She feels that Dr. Vinod Rao has made this very noble, humane arrangement.

Covid is a completely unknown, extraordinary health challenge. The state government is fighting the disease by allocating as much of its resources and human resources as possible. This service of nursing assistants is very valuable and commendable.