By Ahmad Deedat.
Nursing has a history of excellence and diligence. However, in recent times, its essence has diminished; it can no longer be seen in plain sight. It merely represents the long-standing cliché that “nurses are the backbone of healthcare system”.
In nursing practice, one must be familiar with dangerous living. It’s a profession that embodies risk and dilemma, but yet decorated in honorific nobility. The quagmire in nursing and tread more often in reality than in imagination. Only those destined to make the hard call can hedge the bets.
Therefore, nurses are certainly disproportionately exposed to hazards. In dissecting them, it’s essential to categorize them into physical, chemical, and psychological hazards.
1. Physical Hazards
Nurses, unlike other healthcare workers have more intense and frequent interactions with patients. They often come across bodily fluids which could be carrier of dangerous disease agents. Moreover Nursing job is physically demanding, it requires tasks such as lifting, repositioning, and transferring of patients. These can eventually lead to musculoskeletal injuries for nurses.
Nurses face yet another vulnerability to bear: the needlestick injury. As the primary injection administrators, nurses are uniquely in the harm’s of needlestick injury. This injury can be fatal, it can transmit a killer pathogens.
In addition, nurses are increasingly subjected to assault and battery by patient relatives, as seen in the recent turmoil in Kano State. Moreover, there is diminishing workforce. It’s clear that the standard nurse-to-patient ratio is not a familiar within our shores.
2. Chemical Hazards
Nurses are exposed to hazardous chemicals such as disinfectants, cleaning agents, and certain dangerous medications. The inevitability of their exposure assures the signification of the risks involved.
Similarly, nurses are frequently exposed to gloves and other medical equipment. This increases the risk of latex allergy among them.
3. Psychological Hazards
Nursing job is stressful. Nurses mostly work long hours, shouldering a heavy workload that exceeds their capacity. This can be traumatic and distressing.
Additionally, due to the rapport nurses establish with patients and relatives, nurses repeatedly suffer from emotional exhaustion, compassion fatigue, and burnout. Patients can be emotionally demanding, and fortunately, the nursing profession is dedicated to meeting their needs.
Abuse and violence are additional pieces of the puzzle. Nurses experience verbal abuse from patients, their relatives, and perhaps counter colleagues in some settings.
To make it upfront, nobility and hazard are the two pillars that nursing is built on. The profession is hard to love, but passionate to behold. The adventure of nursing is not meant to be understood, but rather, experienced. The article is barely one part of a larger puzzle that even the wisest cannot discern. However, it provides pavement for better understanding of the troubles faced by nurses. Certainly, it suggests that nurses, more or less, should occupy the highest ranks in the upper echelon.
Deedat is a registered nurse. He writes from Kano, Nigeria.
