On the International Day dedicated to those who practice this profession, the testimony of Juliana S. Palma, a Catholic, who works in the burn room of a large public hospital in the capital. In Bangladesh, the problem of a shortage of nurses continues to be serious, with only a quarter of what the country would need.
Dhaka () – Today is International Nurses Day in Bangladesh, under the theme “Our nurses, our future”. On this day people greet and thank those who practice this profession for their love, dedication and service. As is the case of Juliana S. Palma, a 44-year-old Catholic who has made nursing her vocation…
Motherless, she grew up in an asylum run by nuns. “I also wanted to be a religious – she told – but later I realized that this was not my path and I enrolled in a nursing institute in Tangail, where I graduated twenty years ago. I like to take care of sick people. People from all over the country come to our hospital with burn injuries.” Palma is a mother of one, attending Luxmibazar Parish in Dhaka and working in the department of plastic surgery and burns at Dhaka Medical & College Hospital (DMCH). “Extremely needy and defenseless people arrive at the hospital because care is almost free. Burn patients need time to fully heal, so they stay in the hospital for long periods, and that allows us to hear their stories.” “Some of them have attempted suicide and others are victims of accidents. We listen to them carefully, we give them encouragement and compassion.”
“I like to take care of my patients, if one day I don’t go to the hospital they ask me what happened to me – explains Palma -. The happiest moment of my life is seeing patients who have come to our hospital in danger of death and then, thanks to our care, little by little they recover and return home very grateful. We can show hope in life to sick people. That’s the beauty of the nursing profession.”
Like any other profession, nurses also face challenges and difficulties. “The patients in our hospital are in great need and we often see that they cannot afford the medicines. In those moments, nurses and doctors collect the money that is needed”. Another serious problem is the lack of personnel: the medical services of Bangladesh work with 76% less nurses than would be necessary. According to the standards of the World Health Organization, there must be at least 3 nurses for every doctor. However, today in our country there are even fewer nurses than doctors: there are 108,000 registered in the Bangladesh Medical and Dental Council (BMDC), while in the whole country there are only 77,838 registered nurses, which is far below the demand. Therefore, patients cannot receive all the necessary services.
But even in this difficult situation, Palma says that he can bear witness to the unconditional love of Jesus: “I remember the story of a young Muslim, Sujon Islam, who arrived at the hospital with 90% burns. He was very serious and we thought he was going to die. I prayed for him to Jesus with tears: ‘Lord, give him back his life and take mine.’ Thanks to our sincere service, that patient recovered and he still calls me on the phone today to thank me. In this way I showed the love of Jesus for everyone.”
