Vancouver, B.C.
Each day, nurses work tirelessly to save lives, to comfort the sick and the dying, and to uphold frontline, social work, welfare to task, and in service in the name of God.
Opinion
Mildred German
As a reading from the letter of Paul to the Thessalonians “We were gentle among you, like a nurse tenderly caring for her own children. So deeply do we care for you that we are determined to share with you not only the Gospel of God but also our own selves, because you have become very dear to us.” (1Thess 2: 7b-8)
COMPASSION IN PRACTICE AND NURSING A SOLEMN PLEDGE
If you have a nurse in your life, you can consider yourself ‘blessed’. The nursing profession is truly a gift. Not only that the word ‘nurse’ was beautifully mentioned in the Bible, nursing has been acknowledged as an important pillar in the pandemic.
I am one of the many who can consider themselves grateful for the nurses in my life – for my sister, families and friends, peers and many compatriots who are nurses. I too am very grateful for the privilege of meeting many of our kababayans in the diaspora.
Nurses make this pledge: “I solemnly pledge myself before God and in the presence of this assembly to pass my life in purity and to practise my profession faithfully. I shall abstain from whatever is deleterious and mischievous, and shall not take or knowingly administer any harmful drug. I shall do all in my power to maintain and elevate the standard of my profession and will hold in confidence all personal matters committed to my keeping and all family affairs coming to my knowledge in the practice of my calling. I shall be loyal to my work and devoted towards the welfare of those committed to my care.” – the Original “Florence Nightingale Pledge” (1893)
Manila was able to abstain from whatever ‘deleterious and mischievous’ things that ravaged and occupied her young life. She was able to go back to school and finish nursing school becoming a Registered Nurse (RN). Now with more than over a decade of nursing experience, the mother of three wonderful children, and a very essential nursing work on her shoulders amidst this pandemic, Manila has shared that she found herself in public service ” with the help and grace of God.”
Her husband is also a nurse in B.C. Their faith and commitment together as a family and as members of the Members Church of God International (mcgi.org), serves as the guiding light in this calling of the nursing profession.
During the Crimean war Nightingale, the founder of modern nursing and organized care, gained the nickname “The Lady with the Lamp”, and as a “ministering angel”.
“She is a “ministering angel” without any exaggeration in these hospitals, and as her slender form glides quietly along each corridor, every poor fellow’s face softens with gratitude at the sight of her.”, as cited from a phrase in a report in The Times in the late 1800s, in Cook, E. T. The Life of Florence Nightingale, to which the Nightingale Pledge was named after.
The annual celebrations to showcase and celebrate the roles of nurses and their courage and commitment are held on the same week (from the Monday to the Sunday of the same week) of May 12, the birthday of Florence Nightingale, the founder of modern nursing.
So grateful to all the Florence Nightngales of today who selflessly serve others in the midst of the pandemic, risking their lives and delivering the best love and care for the faceless people in dire need of such.
Proud and blessed to have a lot of Florence Nightingales in the family- sisters, cousins, nieces and nephews.
MONDAY MANILA IS ONE OF THEM!!!