Filipino nurses learn the power of loving care
Manila (AsiaNews) – In a Manila nursing school spirituality is taught thanks to the sisters of the College of the Holy Spirit. This way many of the young Filipino women who become nurses to work abroad and escape the country’s poverty have less of chance to forget the more spiritual significance of their chosen profession. This is the task the sisters at the college have set out for the would-be nurses. They show that they can help a patient even with just a smile
“Instead of complaining about nurses going abroad because they [want to earn more] money, we should help [train] nurses who care,” said College of Holy Spirit President Sr Ancille Elveña.
For one semester in all levels, students must take Supervised Clinical Pastoral Education, where they learn to care for patients beyond just their physical needs.
In the summer, before entering their senior year, students are sent to faraway communities where healthcare services range from very poor to none.
The first days always come as a shock to some students, but this is part of their education. “This is part of their training so that in the future they will know how to understand and empathize with their patients,” Sister Elveña said.
She hopes that the exposure to other people’s poverty can soften the worldly appeal of the nursing profession and inspire them to remain at home to serve.
In Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Mandaluyong City, students can put theory into practice.
Editha Reyes, the hospital’s assistant director of nursing services, started there as a nurse in 1983 and was able to resist the appeal of greener pastures abroad. Instead, she feels blessed that she was able to make the nuns’ values her own.
For her, even a small gesture of affection can be of help to a patient. For this reason, she never leaves a hospital ward without a smile or a gentle stroke for the patients.
Given the Philippines’ high level of unemployment, many Filipinos go abroad to make a living, including many trained professionals like nurses and doctors, who are prized in developed countries where the geriatric population is growing fast.
According to the agency in charge of Filipino workers abroad, the number of Filipinos working in foreign lands now stands at about a million.
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