KPJ News

KOTA KINABALU: Nursing is a vocation from God, said KPJ Sabah Specialist Hospital deputy chief nursing officer Theresa Annabelle Tann.

"I think to most people who took up nursing, it is a vocation from above. To me, I am grateful my parents encouraged me to become a nurse, despite it not being my initial ambition when I was young," she said.

The most challenging part of being a nurse is when the children are still young because the nurses work round-the-clock, she said in conjunction with International Nurses Day yesterday.

"We become the light to help those in darkness. This was shown by our icon Florence Nightingale where she is depicted holding a lamp which is a symbol to provide care to patients," said Theresa.

Despite having 36 years of experience in the profession, she said she would still continue to further her studies to be a better nurse to impart extra knowledge to the younger ones.

However, the past two years have been the most challenging for nurses as the unprecedented Covid-19 pandemic has been very terrifying as deaths were reported almost every day, she said.

"The pandemic taught nurses a lot and to stay humble because we are dealing with something and we don't know the patients coming in with the virus," said Theresa.

However, she said her team members were able to manage the situation well as everyone was following the standard operating procedures (SOPs) despite the relaxations starting this month.

She attributed her success in managing critical situations to teamwork and dedication as a nurse.

For a nursing career, she said there is a high demand in Peninsular Malaysia because of new hospitals coming up.

In Sabah, the supply of nurses was sufficient to meet demands at the moment, she said, adding that many Sabahans took up their nursing training in the peninsula. - New Straits Times