Česky
Nursing care is demanding in all fields of medicine. However, in the field of oncology, nurses face specific demands and challenges. High demands are placed on the nurse caring for oncology patients, not only in terms of knowledge, but also in the psychosocial area. One of the main prerequisites for the work of an oncology nurse is a mature personality with high moral and ethical values and, above all, a high level of empathy. In her daily practice, the nurse is forced to address existential issues with patients, to help patients manage their fears and anxieties about the future and to motivate them to cooperate. Gabriela Valentová, a nurse with many years of oncology experience, who works in the chemotherapy outpatient clinic, knows about this. "I find our work challenging but at the same time very rewarding. Patients visit us at regular intervals, often for long periods of time, so we become their partners who accompany them during their treatment. We often know their family members, close friends and friends, and we know their wishes, needs and problems. Sometimes it is a difficult task to care for cancer patients, but their thanks and appreciation is a great motivation for us. And when you add to that the appreciation for our work from the doctors and the management, it is double recognition and joy for us", says nurse Gabriela Valentová.
The International Council of Nurses commemorates this important day every year by creating and distributing an International Nurses Day package. The theme for 2014 is "Nurses: a driving force for change. An essential resource for health". Nurses have proven in the past to be agents of change, just like the founder of modern nursing, Florence Nightingale. She rejected the authority and dogma that was associated with the way the sick were cared for at the time. She emphasised the care of the patient and the environment in which they were in. She pioneered the collection and recording of hospital data on illness and surgery, and used basic statistical methods to evaluate new nursing practices that led to improved health outcomes for hospitalized patients. She considered it important to educate nurses and succeeded in founding the first school of nursing. However, if we want to be partners with doctors, to work as a team, we must also demonstrate our professional skills, knowledge and abilities. I would like to thank you nurses for your demanding work and wish you a lot of strength and optimism on the International Nurses' Day, to be healthy and happy, to endure the demanding work pace, to support each other and to draw a lot of energy for your difficult but beautiful work in the coming summer", said the head nurse of the Oncology Centre Multiscan Pardubice Mgr. Eva Valentová.
