At Ospital ng Sampaloc, Manila, I met a number of colleagues
who for one reason or another opted to stay in the Philippines
and work their ass off...
Gloat ye all nurses that work overseas...
Gloat all you want, but here...
where you learned all your nursing procedures,
all your skills, all your principles and knowledge
in the tradition of Florence Nightingale,
here, the Josephine Brackens stayed,
lingered and cared...
I computed the time they spent working
inside the hospital:
I believe they work a total of 12 hours...
This 12 hours becomes 14 or 15 hours due
to the influx of patients...
endorsements and nursing procedures
needing to be finished before you go home...
leaving you 9 hours left...
Deduct 3 more hours from the 9 hours,
1 hour for your ride home,
2 hours for your preparation and ride to work...
leaving you a whopping 6 hours!
Sleep? how does a nurse who works at a government
hospital fit the remaining 6 hours?
How is the child or children left at home?
Do they get to see their mother?
If they get to see her, will it be a time
that they will remember when they start to walk
and meet the loves of their lives?
How does one manage with the remaining hours?
How about the husband?
Extramarital affairs right and left?
Poor nurse...
She may care for her patient
Give all the attention they need,
Give all the health education they want,
work her ass off to provide food on the table
only to be left alone?
Altruism...Selfless...
Passion...
Only a nurse who works at a public hospital
can define it...
By merely looking at her,
you will know that her feet are killing her
from walking to and fro,
checking on patients...
Yes, patientssssssss...
an astounding 56 patients
with 2 nurses at the station
working for 12 hours...
And yet, you can still see them smile...
Next time you get hospitalized
especially in a public hospital,
can you just say "thank you?"
It's more than enough
to show her you appreciate
all her efforts...
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