Becoming a nurse is like falling in love. You go in all enthusiastic, but there is always a chance that you might come out of it jaded and cynical. Years of experience have taught me that the most important relationship in your nursing journey is the one you will have with your patients.
This difficult journey requires a sense of empathy, trust and respect from both sides of the camp. Unfortunately, this is one of the most strained relationships in society, particularly because the healthcare system is faced with so many challenges.
If social media comments are anything to go by, then I would say that people seem to have a love/hate relationship with nurses. In fact, I would say ours resembles a toxic relationship that is characterised by poor communication, unmet needs and resentment. I am inclined to reflect upon this as the World Health Organisation declared 2021 as the Year of the Healthcare Worker.
This global campaign is aimed at championing the cause of the healthcare workers who are at the frontlines of fighting the Covid-19 pandemic and other diseases. The strength of this message should also be measured by how well we manage to tackle the growing rift between ourselves and our patients.
In this country, nurses have a reputation for being rude, uncaring and oblivious to the needs of people. We are notorious for shouting and bursting into rants. But imagine trying to maintain a healthy relationship with your significant other in a toxic environment where the furniture is broken, complaints are not addressed and there is just not enough of anything to keep the flames of love burning. Frustration is bound to consume both parties, resulting in a deteriorating relationship.
My intention here is not to make excuses for negligent behaviour or shield hospital staff who show blatant unkindness towards others. I am simply trying to reflect on how the realities faced by healthcare practitioners impact negatively on the profession and the way in which we relate with others. The majority of nurses care for patients but the truth is that a stressful work environment, coupled with a shortage of resources, makes it difficult for us to deliver quality service.
Providing basic care in the form of administering medicine, feeding and bathing people is a critical part of what we do, while patient advocacy is also a crucial element of nursing. In our line of duty we must make sure that the interests of the people we serve are protected. I do not think that members of the public realise that caring for the healthcare worker translates into caring for the nation.
When you support the cause of healthcare practitioners to get access to resources, financial or otherwise, you are investing in your own well-being. Caring for the caregiver involves civil society’s involvement, which is why I believe in the importance of mending this broken relationship. I would like to see patients and healthcare workers standing side by side when it comes to demanding better conditions at clinics and hospitals.
This should not be a nurses’ struggle, it should be a community’s effort because at the end of the day nurses are mothers, sisters, brothers, dads and uncles who live among us. The path to quality healthcare demands that we form a stronger bond with our patients, now more than ever. Caring for the nurse means bringing an end to the toxicity while paving a way for a partnership governed by compassion from both sides.
• Mthunzi is a senior lecturer and the president of the Young Nurses Indaba trade union
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