| Savitri Chandrabose is deservedly a ‘Special Person’ “You must be committed and have a love for what you are doing, otherwise you will not do it to the best of your ability. I knew that I loved nursing and I decided that I would give it my all.” After more than 35 years in the nursing profession, Nurse Savitri Chandrabose continues to dedicate herself towards ensuring that quality health care is provided to the Guyanese populace.Nurse Chandrabose who hails from Leonora, West Coast Demerara, on May 1 last year attained the age of retirement, but has since been recalled by the Health Ministry to offer her skills and talent as a nurse in the area of quality assurance at the West Demerara Regional Hospital in Region Three. She was stationed at the Region Three hospital for a major part of her career even up until her retirement.Nurse Savitri Chandrabose But it is not simply because of her many years of service that Nurse Chandrabose is being recognised as this week’s special person but rather because of the self-imposed theme that has guided her all her life.“You must be committed and have a love for what you are doing, otherwise you will not do it to the best of your ability. I knew that I loved nursing and I decided that I would give it my all,” Nurse Chandrabose related.However, her passion for nursing did not come into being until after she commenced training in this regard. In fact, she divulged that after completing her secondary education, the obvious next move was to begin scanning the world of work for a suitable career. As a young and vibrant woman, not even a thought of becoming a nurse had wandered through the mind of Nurse Chandrabose.“I never planned on becoming a nurse. I didn’t even have an interest in nursing even though I had a brother who had done nursing. I was trying to find a job and there was nothing…I checked the newspapers everyday…everyday until I saw the advertisement.”According to Nurse Chandrabose, she saw an ad in the newspaper which stated that persons suitably qualified could apply to be trained in various categories of the nursing profession.Her application would see her being accepted by the Health Ministry to undergo training as a professional nurse.Without hesitation and with the blessing of her parents,Kyle Korver Hawks Jersey, the West Coast Demerara lass headed off to the capital city to grasp an understanding of a profession which she would soon adopt as her ‘dream career’.Her training commenced in 1973, and according to her, back then classes were held at the Georgetown Public Hospital. And because she had passed subjects like Mathematics, Human Biology, Physics and Chemistry, doing the various requisite Anatomy and Physiology courses came as a breeze to the then aspiring nurse.“Anatomy and Physiology were a must and if you were not exposed to Science subjects it could have been hard…so I really didn’t have a problem and more and more I started to realise that I was learning something that I liked…I understood what I was doing and I wanted to do it. I was developing a passion for nursing.”It was at this point, Nurse Chandrabose disclosed, that she began to embrace what one of her older brothers who was trained as a nurse was privy to.After completing her theoretical training, Nurse Chandrabose was among the first batch of student nurses to sign a five-year contract with the Ministry of Health. And as part of her practical training she was posted at the Best Tuberculosis Sanatorium, which was later developed into the West Demerara Regional Hospital.At the fullness of her training in 1977, Nurse Chandrabose, a Registered Nurse, was re-assigned to the Sanatorium where she was given charge of the Children’s ward, one of the five wards in the institution at the time.And back in those days she recounted that it was quite a challenge to work with TB-infected patients as there was some level of stigma and discrimination attached to the disease,Cheap Jerseys From China, similar to that attached to HIV/AIDS today.“I didn’t let that bother me…I would take the children out for walks and I worked towards helping to reduce that level of discrimination because I knew that if I wanted to be a good nurse I had to do what was right and in the best interest of my patients.”Nurse Chandrabose (at right) receiving a ‘Breastfeeding Trainer of Trainers’ certificate from former PAHO Country Representative Dr Bernadette Theodore-GandhiBut though she was doing what she loved, there existed a void within the fresh, young nurse who felt that there was much more she could do to contribute to the profession. She,Cheap Jerseys Free, as a result, decided to pursue training in midwifery which saw her returning to the city to complete a one-year programme.It was during this time Nurse Chandrabose met and married her husband, Oudai Chandrabose,Cheap Sports Jerseys, who was a law enforcement officer at the time. Their union, which has stood the test of time,Brad Richards Red Wings Jersey, has produced three sons – Calvin, Javin and Ravin.Armed with her Midwifery certificate, Nurse Chandrabose was tasked with manning the Leonora Cottage Hospital in her capacity as a Staff Nurse/Midwife. And it was no piece of cake to operate at that institution.“West Demerara Hospital as we know it today was not in operation and so most of the cases such as deliveries were all done at the Cottage Hospital…this was the heart of the delivery of health care on the West Demerara.”According to her, she had a special interest in the area of Obstetrics and has delivered more than her fair share of babies, recounting that once she delivered six babies in one night.And though her work was challenging in some areas, Nurse Chandrabose said that she found complete satisfaction in what she did. Her career saw her being posted in various parts of the country including the New Amsterdam and Skeldon Hospitals and even in Black Bush Polder before she returned to Region Three in 1992. She was promoted to Departmental Sister at the Cottage Hospital before returning to the West Demerara Hospital where she retired last year.In her quest to help improve the delivery of health care, Nurse Chandrabose has over the years dedicated herself to a number of ventures, among them the initiative which saw the West Demerara Regional Hospital becoming the first baby-friendly hospital in Guyana. She has also taken up the reins of the Region Three Breastfeeding Committee, which has as one of its main objectives to encourage mothers to breastfeed their babies exclusively for the first six months of the infants’ lives.As a recalled nurse today,Deion Sanders Falcons Jersey, Nurse Chandrabose is tasked with addressing the quality of medical care that is afforded to patients at the West Demerara Regional Hospital to ensure that they get nothing but the best.And had she not had a genuine passion for providing nursing care to the local citizenry, the nurse related that she would have long taken advantage of the many appeals to enter ‘greener pastures’.According to her, there is a dire need for young persons desirous of entering nursing to view it as a field which brings much pride and requires that one has integrity, since it is a profession and not simply an avenue for making money. |
