KOZHIKODE: Even after a tiring fortnight since the Nipah outbreak, nurses of Kozhikode Medical College Hospital (KMCH) are still at an arm’s distance for patients. Each day 70 nurses work in the Nipah wards in three shifts. Ushadevi P, Kerala Government Nursing Association general secretary and a head nurse at KMCH, said that nurses of the hospital are putting cent per cent hard work as a team, ruling out their own anxieties and fears.
“We have timings for our duty but now we work disregarding these timings as the situation demands such a contribution on our part,” she says. For them, although family with all concern stands in support, fear is still in the air about those nurses who have children at the feeding age.
“We work for the society but at times get hurt by the same society as many of us are ostracised by the public. My colleges even have the experience of neighbors isolating the entire family,” Ushadevi says. They face awful looks and questions if people come to know they are nurses of KMCH. According to Ushadevi, there is nothing about getting rated as angels but everything is about getting a humane approach. She claims that as for every other medical need, in the present situation too nurses work at the core level.
