“No man, not even a doctor, ever gives any other definition of what a nurse should be than this – ‘devoted and obedient’. I attribute my success to this – I never gave or took any excuse. I think one’s feelings waste themselves in words; they ought all to be distilled into actions which bring results. The very first requirement in a hospital is that it should do the sick no harm. To understand God’s thoughts one must study statistics..the measure of his purpose. There is no part of my life, upon which I can look back without pain.” – Florence Nightingale
Mangaluru: All’s Well that Ends Well! That’s right. Quoting Shakespeare’s words, “But with the word the time will bring on summer, When briers shall have leaves as well as thorns..All’s well that ends well; still the fine’s the crown; Whatever the course, the end is the renown”. All I can say is that the committee members/volunteers of Fr Muller College of Nursing have done a marvelous job in organizing “NRSICON’15” – the 19th Annual National Conference of Nursing Research Society of India, with the theme “Nursing Research: A Pathway to Quality Improvement to Health Care”. Hundred and twelve delegates from different colleges of Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Sikkim, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka, including one delegate from United Kingdom were present at the conference. They complimented the organizers for the great hospitality, friendliness, courteousness and arrangements during their three-day participation at the conference. Kudos, a job well done!
The valedictory function held on 31 October at 1 pm, began with an invocation through visual aid, followed by the welcome address by Prof. Victoria D’Almeida – Vice Principal, Fr Muller College of Nursing. Prof. Agnes EJ – lecturer at Fr Muller College of Nursing – delivered the conference report wherein she recaptured the events from the inaugural day which commenced at 10 am on 29 October at the Fr Muller Decennial Hall with the formal inauguration by lighting the lamp. The dignitaries for the day were Fr Patrick Rodrigues – Director, Father Muller charitable Institutions; Chief guest Dr G Venkatesh – Director of Advanced Research Cell, RGUHS, Bengaluru; Guest of honour Dr Bontha V babu – Scientist F and Head of Health Systems Research Division at ICMR, New Delhi; Dr Usha Ukande – NRSI president; Prof. Amarjeeth Kaur Sandhu – Secretary, NRSI; organizing chairperson Prof. Sr Winnifred D’souza and the organizing secretary Prof. Chanu Bhattacharya.
The chief guest, guest of honor and NRSI president gave their messages regarding the various aspects of research and its influence on quality improvement in health care. The NRSI book “Preventive strategies of Non Communicable diseases” and conference souvenir were released during the inauguration. The presidential address was given Fr Patrick Rodrigues, Director, FMCI. On the first day of the conference, a workshop on developing research culture was conducted. The sessions of the first day included concept of research culture by Dr Girish Chinnaswamy – Assoc. Prof, Pediatric oncology, Tata Memorial Centre; Critical appraisal of research by Prof. Abanti Gopan – Nursing Consultant, Tata Medical Centre, Kolkata; Interactive session on communication of research findings by Dr K Lalitha – Prof. and Head, Dept of Nursing, NIMHANS, Bengaluru and Proposal writing for research grants by Dr Bontha V Babu.
There was a panel discussion on “Role of professional organizations in promoting research culture” in the afternoon. The panelists were Dr Usha Ukande – Principal, Choitram College of Nursing, Indore; Dr K Lalitha, Dr Bontha V Babu, Dr Abanti Gopan and Dr Girish Chinnaswamy. Following the panel discussion, an oral presentation of scientific papers was conducted and evaluated in four lecture halls of FMCON till 5.30 pm. The posters of the delegates were displayed in DM hall and were evaluated by the judges.
The sub theme for the second day of the conference was mixed methods of research. The morning sessions were as follows: Nature and design of mixed methods of research by Dr B Unni Krishnan – Associative Dean & Prof. of Community medicine, KMC Mangaluru; Steps in conducting mixed methods of nursing research by Dr Mamatha S Pai – Professor, Manipal College of Nursing, Manipal and Contemporary application of mixed methods of research by Dr Pratap Tharyan – Professor of Psychiatry and Director, South Asian Cochrane Network and Centre, CMC, Vellore. The pilot findings of the NRSI study on “Evaluation of quality of adult patient care in pre and post-operative area – A gap between theory and practice” was presented by Ms Prescilla – Lecturer FMCON.
The elections for the post of treasurer of NRSI was conducted followed by sessions. In the afternoon session, Dr Pratap Tharyan elaborated on systematic reviews. The General Body Meeting of the NRSI was conducted from 3.45 pm in which the executives and members of NRSI participated. Scientific paper presentations were conducted in FMCON lecture hall from 3.30 to 4.30pm. The students of Father Muller College of Nursing conducted a cultural evening for the delegates.
Concluding the report, Prof. Agnes said that the presentation of three best scientific papers selected from the previous two days presentations was conducted on 31st October 2015 morning. The sub theme of the day was Quality Improvement. The first session was on measuring nursing quality care by Dr Assuma Beevi – Joint director, Malabar Institute of Medical Sciences Academy, Calicut. Dr Tapati Bhattacharjee conducted the next session on cost effective quality care. The third session was on concept of quality improvement in health care system by Dr Lata Venkateshan – Professor, Apollo College of Nursing, Chennai. Dr Premila Lee, Professor in Nursing, CMC, Vellore elaborated on quality improvement in health care – application to clinical practice.
During the feedback session from a few delegates, they all complimented the organizers for the marvellous job done by them in organizing the conference, without any negative comments. The winners in the Oral and Poster presentations were awarded with prizes during the occasion. Addressing the audience, the chief guest for the valedictory ceremony, Dr Tapati Bhattacharjee (Retd. Maj)- Bharati Vidhyapeeth, Deemed University, Pune – said, “It is sad to say that nursing is not improving in many hospitals across India. More research should be done to improve the quality and services rendered by the nurses, since they are the heart of a hospital. Nurses are the hospitality of the hospital. Although we have state-of-the-art hospitals, but when it comes to the improvement of the nursing department, it is a lacking. The current emphasis on evidence based health care requires nurse to base their clinical practice to the greatest extent to improve the health care. Interest should be taken in the clinical area. Therefore everyone should join in improving the clinical service.”
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Dr Usha Ukande – President of Nurses Research Society of India – speaking during the occasion said that if there was an “Excellent” marked on the feedback sheet, she would have ticked “Excellent” gainst all the facilities, hospitality, arrangements, etc provided by the organizers. “The objectives of NRSI is to support the development of nursing research activities, provide evidence based nursing care, provide a platform to nurse scientists to exchange views on nursing research and disseminate research findings for utilization in the field of health care. As president of NRSI, I will see that the nurses benefit a lot from NRSI, by organizing regular conferences and research activities. Fr Muller College of Nursing has done a marvellous job in organizing this 19th Annual NRSI conference.”
The vote of thanks was proposed by Sr Winnifred D’souza – Principal of Father Muller College of Nursing. Kudos to the comperes of the conference for the three days namely, Mrs Darryl Aranha, Ms Neethu Ann Koshy, Dr Leena K C, Mrs Jasmine Saritha Va, Ms Sonia Karen and Ms Zenia Hazel D’ Souza, all faculties of Father Muller College of Nursing for their professionalism in handling the proceedings of the events. As per the feedback of delegates, the conference objectives were achieved and the delegates had a fruitful time at Father Muller College of Nursing.
In conclusion, Nursing, as Florence Nightingale would tell you, is a noble profession. It’s all about caring, self-sacrifice, and a whole lot of patience. Yes. Nursing is a freaking hard job. But if you forget about how big (or small) your salary is and focus more on what you can offer to suffering patients, you will always enjoy coming to work everyday. You are the hospitality of the hospital. You are the heart of the hospital. Nurses lead very demanding lives. Working with doctors, healing patients and educating the communities are just a few of the responsibilities nurses perform on a daily basis. In fact you could say that nurses are the backbone of our healthcare system, providing us with the attention and medical care that we need to live health long-lasting lives. Sometimes being a nurse can be exhausting at times, but the knowledge and power to help heal others is what keeps them going in challenging times. They come to comfort and to heal, to love and serve in woe and weal. To all the nurses a big thank you for caring and healing those in the hour of medical attention. God bless you all!
Like all the Fr Muller events end with their Institutional Anthem, so do all my Fr Muller Institution reports with the thought-provoking words of FMCI anthem:
“We come to comfort and to heal, to love and serve in woe and weal
We come to comfort and to heal, to love and serve in woe and weal.
Let a mighty chorus swell and soar beyond the skies
As white robed bands with healing hands to daily tasks arise,
And eager limbs await their hour with aching, grim surmise
While fading visions float before half open, gleamless eyes.
Let the name Augustus Muller proudly write in gold
Flame across Karnatak’s vast and Bharat’s millions hold,
In admiration of his zeal whose vision bright & bold
In Mangalore’s fair bosom raised its home of peace untold.
Hail! Dear home where tender care beguiles disease and pain
Where love divine inspires & lifts the failing heart or brain.
Live on and grow till human kind its destiny attain
And healing reach on wheels and wings the distant home or plain.
Come, Doctor, live your noble Hippocrate’s bequest
Come, Nurse, by Nightingale inspired, forget your broken rest,
Come all who soothe in ways unsung Humanity’s unrest
Let’s all as one, with love pursue the toil by millions blest.”
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