Divya Reghunath is an M.Sc Nursing Student at the Narayana Hrudayalaya College of Nursing in Bangalore. She is also a nursing officer at All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in New Delhi and a member of the Global Health Network. Her essay on “The Role of Nurses in Improving Patient Care through Clinical Research” was selected as the best entry and it was crowned the winner! Joby George, TGHN Regional coordinator, awarded the price.
As the winner of the essay writing competition organised by The Global Health Network on the topic “Role of nurses in improving patient care through clinical research”, I got the opportunity to attend the World Congress on Nursing and Healthcare Summit, 2019 held at J.N Tata Auditorium, Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru on the 21st and 22nd of November, 2019.
This conference had topics ranging from Nursing and Healthcare and also Gerontology and Geriatrics. Being a nurse and in the profession for over 6 years now, this conference gave me an opportunity to explore greater dimensions in the field and know what is happening in the nursing and healthcare world right now.
Day 1 of the conference started with the topic ‘Quality of life among geriatric population: A community based study in the rural field practice areas of a tertiary care hospital in Mangalore. This was followed by topics related to nursing like Community – Family Nursing practioners, Midwifery nursing and women’s health, Nurses role in laboratory diagnosis. These topics were taken by eminent speakers from Bangalore and also from Kanpur, India. The conference then continued with brain storming discussions and lectures on topics like orthogeriatrics, Interprofessional education in Gerontology, Alzeimer’s Disease, Involvement of medicine in Geriatric care, Aged women in changing social system, Rationale for Old is Gold in Human development, Positivity among Indian women in dealing with cancer etc. Various other topics were also discussed like enhancing maternal mental health of women in perinatal period and the role of nurses in promoting emotional wellbeing, Challenges in geriatric care, Cardiac failure in elderly.
Day 2 of the World Congress began with a session on “Addressing patient safety challenges” presented by a speaker from Pune. This was followed by a session on Non Pharmacological management and safety guidelines for Nurse Practitioners by a speaker from Gujarat, India. Then a topic on nursing standards ‘Nursing standards in immediate management of suicidal attempt among patients‘ was discussed by a Professor speaker from Secunderabad, India. Day 2 continued with various topics including Ageism, development of sustainable community geriatric care model in India, Gender challenges among greying population. Many other topics like Rheumatological Problems in Elderly, Gender differences in self-esteem among adolescents, Care model for older people, Memory and dementia among the aged were also discussed. Day 2 of the conference ended with the valedictory session.
The wide range of topics discussed at the conference helped me to broaden my knowledge and understanding about the various aspects of geriatric care, ageism, adolescent issues, maternal health problems and many more. This also gave me the opportunity to meet with many eminent people from various fields like medical, mental health, nursing and gerontology, understand, and appreciate their point of view on the various topics and issues that were discussed. It also helped me appreciate my role as a nurse in addressing these issues and the importance of nurses in the health care system. It was a great experience for me to enhance and improve my attitude towards the patient and to learn the importance of providing care with compassion. Overall, it was a great learning opportunity for me and it helped me to understand what are the major problems in India and also the world and how as a nurse, I could contribute to the improvement of these.
Lastly, I would like to take this opportunity to thank The Global Health Network for the fully funded attendance to the conference, which has helped me grow and appreciate my role as a nurse. Also, I would like to thank Mr. Joby George, TGHN Regional Faculty Lead in India, Arancha de la Horra and Sada Aliyeva who were constantly in touch with me for organizing this entire trip to Bangalore. They made sure that all the arrangements from travel to the hotel stay was all organized and arranged on time. Thank you once again for all your support. This was a great encouragement for me and will definitely help me in my future endeavors. Looking forward to more such events and competitions from The Global Health Network.
Divya Reghunath
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