NEW YORK NURSE: April 2011
by Karen A. Ballard, MA, RN, FAAN, President
As we viewed the tsunami’s roll into earthquake-damaged Japan, I had flashbacks of watching the World Trade Center towers collapse on 9/11 – it was a visceral and emotional response. My heart instantly went out to the Japanese people and to the nurses and other healthcare and emergency personnel responding to their needs. American nurses who lived through the terrorism attacks on our nation know the shock and suffering our Japanese nursing colleagues are experiencing, and will be for years to come, as their society struggles to return to a “new normal.”
The international nursing community is supporting relief efforts in Japan. The International Council of Nurses (ICN) and the American Nurses Association (ANA) have reached out to the Japanese Nursing Association (JNA). JNA reports it is receiving assistance and support from throughout the world and sends its appreciation. But medical supplies in many areas are short, and nurses are resorting to cleaning and reusing supplies, as these “rescued” supplies are better than having none.
On behalf of NYSNA’s Board of Directors, I’ve sent a letter of support to the Japanese nurses with a $1,000 donation in recognition of the ties that bind NYSNA and JNA through the work of Linda Richards, America’s first trained nurse. Born in Potsdam, NY, Ms. Richards received nursing training at the New England Hospital for Women and Children, St. Thomas Hospital in London, and the Edinburgh Hospital Infirmary in Scotland. She developed a model system for charting and maintaining individual medical records as a nursing supervisor at Bellevue Hospital in New York. A nursing pioneer, she traveled in 1886 to establish training programs in Japan and has become revered as the Founder of Nursing there.
For her numerous contributions to the nursing profession, Linda Richards is in the National Women’s Hall of Fame and the ANA’s Hall of Fame, and was named this year as one of New York State’s Women of Distinction.
I will be attending my fifth ICN Congress in Malta this May. I’m always impressed at these meetings by the fellowship experienced by nurses from around the world. In honor of Nurses Week 2011 and of all nurses who struggle in times of disasters, calamities, and emergencies and are challenged in their everyday practice, I’m sharing with you this poem from DENOSA, the South African nurses association, shared at the 2009 ICN in South Africa:
Being a NURSE means…
You will never be bored,
You will often be frustrated,
You will be surrounded by challenges, with
So much to do
and so little time.
You will carry immense responsibility.
You will step into
people’s lives
And, you will make
a difference.
Some will bless you,
Some will curse you.
You will see people
at their worst,
And, at their best.
People will never cease
to be amazed
At your capacity for love,
Courage, and endurance.
You will see life begin
…and end.
You will experience
resounding triumphs
And, devastating failures.
You will cry a lot,
You will laugh a lot.
You will know what
it is to be human,
And, to be humane.
The challenges faced by the Japanese nurses are known by their nursing colleagues in Australia, New Zealand, Haiti, Indonesia, and the United States. Our strength in these adverse circumstances comes from our nursing fellowship, as nurses we are never alone in meeting the needs of our patients. This is our strength.