What is Nursing?

The Guinness World Records refused to grant Jessica Anderson (a Barts Health nurse) the World Record as the fastest London Marathon runner in a nurse’s uniform this April, later and after much campaigning their accepted the record. The reason they initially gave to deny her the record was that she did not meet their criteria of “nurse’s uniform”, which -after reading the criteria- is only a nurse you would see in a period drama or a porn movie.

This is not unique in the perception of nursing and nurses; recently there has been some blogs about scrapping nursing degrees and “bringing back the old nursing”. It is an image that many people like to believe as what nursing is about. The Labour government reintroduced “matrons” as a job in the NHS to meet such perception, and this role has been thriving since.

On a Twitter post few days ago a nurse educator posted a question about what aspects of nursing are essential to the provision  of excellent care; most answers focused on compassion, kindness, empathy, and respect. Which are very important aspects, but are these the most essential? This is not a new problem in nursing, people have always struggled to define nursing, Florence Nightingale wrote in 1859: “The elements of nursing are all but unknown.”

It seems to me that the perception of nursing among the general public and many of healthcare professionals has not changed over the past few decades. This perception does not see nursing as a profession, but rather a job that can be fulfilled by some vocational training. I am sure that most of those people will disagree with this statement, but repeatedly they express views that show they do not fully understand what is nursing now. In my short life as a nurse (nearly 25 years) I have witnessed huge changing in the healthcare service, the health needs of the society and the funding and training of healthcare professions. Along these changes a steady move towards more professionalization of nursing has been happening. However, one of the most issues that nursing has struggled with is how it defines itself as a profession, a definition that is immune to changes in politics and public demands, but rather driven by the needs of the patients as individuals and the purpose of the profession.

In early 2000 I attempted to conduct a qualitative study on the definition of nursing, but due to lack of funding and engaging in other projects I abounded that endeavour.   However, I managed to collect over 100 responses from nursing students and the main themes in those responses were: science, art and empathy. This came from university students, were their passion about their chosen profession was not diluted by the workplace pressures, shortages, various demands and lack of resources.

I feel very strongly about balancing the art of caring with the science of nursing. The example I often use is that holding someone’s hand and giving them the compassionate care they want but failing to act on their sepsis metrics: is bad nursing. Acting on their sepsis metric but ignoring their autonomy and individualism is also bad nursing.

For most of the general public, nursing is attending the patient’s basic needs; until they are in a specialist clinic, a hospital bed, or suffering a long term illness, then they see more to nursing than the historical image.

On the professional side, the image projected about nurses is often subordinate to either the doctors or the senior managers, which contributes to the negative attitude towards nursing from other professions and management. The profession will not be accepted and viewed as a profession  as long as nurses’ leadership is not strong because leadership is the key to professionalization.

Nursing for me is not a career, it is an identity, and it is part of who I am. Unlucky for me this identity is often belittled and disparaged, often unintentionally by people thinking they are showing appreciation and calling for change, a change to the past.

Ahmad Baker, RN, BSc, PGDip, PGCert (i never use and abbreviations after my name, only if I have to : RN, because I am proud of profession as a nurse)

How should I feel about Israel?

I am from a village called Beit Nuba in Palestine.

 

 

Beit Nuba is (was) a village located about 14 miles north west of Jerusalem. It is mentioned that King Richard the lion heart camped in Beit Nuba during his crusade, and so did Saladin, that’s almost a millennium ago. On a sunny June morning, Israeli army showed up on the village, ordered everyone to leave and demolished the entire village, the 1000 years history levelled to the ground, and nearly 2000 people in an instant became refugees.

Everyone I know in my extended family, from both my parents sides is a refugee. Being a refugee means that you are always treated as a second class citizen in every country you reside. It also means that you are in an internal conflict in belonging: to the country you live in and the country you call your homeland, and because of this duality your loyalty is often questioned.

 

 

All we have of Beit Nuba is a punch of keys for houses that no longer there, stories and memories for places that we cannot see, visit or call home. Every Palestinian home has a key for a house they cannot return to, memories of places that they are forbidden from visiting. Every Palestinian home has a child named after a town, named after a right to struggle and resist, named after a hope of return.

 

This is my life and the life of millions of Palestinians like me; belonging to a place that no longer exists on the maps, have no rights to return to my homeland, and the cause, the reason, and the source of this suffering is Israel. So do we, refugees, children of refugees, parents to more refugees, have the right to hate Israel?

 

Despite my family suffering, I find myself in fear of expressing my feelings about Israel, because I might be labelled as antisemitc! I cannot emphasise enough how dangerous  and scary anti-Semitism is, millions of Jews lost their lives because of antisemitc 1930s Europe, and for many centuries before that they have been repeatedly abused and persecuted. I have always rejected any form of racism, and I have a personal interest in doing so as I am a person of colour and a Muslim living in Europe. I have advocated that Muslims should work with other minorities; Jews, LGBTQ+, Black Lives matter and any other minority group to fight racism.

 

The past few weeks I have seen a rise in American and British “whites” defending Israel and accusing anyone criticising its actions as antisemitc. I could easily question their motives and intentions, especially knowing that the most recent antisemitc terrorist attacks were carried out by “White Nationalists” who Trump refers to as “very fine people” and none of those pro-Israel groups are actually calling them out.

 

 

Conflicting Zionism and Israel policies with anti-Semitism is a very dangerous matter. Jews deserve to be protected and should not be subjected to any form of racism, that protection should not give Israel the immunity from criticism. Israel is a state, not a religion, ethnicity or a sexual orientation, many parties compete in elections to rule, with different visions and policies, some of which are plainly racists, some of the actions of this state violates Human Rights convections, like for example demolishing Beit Nuba. Where do I stand on that, if I criticise Israel am I antisemitc? If I dislike or hate Israel because of what it did to my family, am I antisemitc?

 

 

I am one of the lucky ones, I live in the UK, enjoy my rights as a British citizen, and very rarely someone would say to me: go back home! Million other Palestinians aren’t this lucky,  still living in refugees camps, denied many of their basic rights as humans, and of course no right of return.

For all the Palestinians, in or out of refugees camps, under the occupation or in other countries, the cause of their prolonged suffering is the state of Israel! Hating it, is an understatement.

 
I know many people will be uncomfortable with the idea of “hate”, do not expect me to apologise. If people living in refugees camps, restrictions on every aspects of their lives, and have suffered for generation, if such things do not make you uncomfortable but their right to express their feelings makes you cringe, then you have no feelings and for that only: I am sorry.

The right to return

Palestine, not just a dream

When I was a 5 years old boy, I was always worried that my father and his friends will free Palestine! Though it was a wonderful thought but I wanted to be the man who freed Palestine. I remember spending hours imagining how as a victorious man I will enter Jerusalem and deliver my speech declaring: a free Palestine, for all.

I used to imagine myself visiting the old towns and villages, that demolished and erased from maps and reality but remained in people's minds and hearts, in the stories we heard thousands of times : my mother only carried us, a small bag of clothes and a key to a house that no longer exists. Every Palestinian home has a key for a house they cannot return to, memories of places that they are forbidden from visiting. Every Palestinian home has a child named after a town, named after a right to struggle and resist, named after a hope of return.

My dream was not unique, many Palestinian children born in refugees camps around the region had a similar dream, they, like me, grew older and their dream, like mine, is still a dream.

Today, I stand 71 years away from a memory, that many people will say: move on! People who have a homeland, who can live in the town that their parents were born in, work in the city that their great grandparents lived in. To those people, to all people, to my children, and to myself I say: we will return to Palestine, because it is not just a dream..