Nursing is very noble, says Extraordinary Nurse awardee
Mdm Susheela K Chugani, 72, senior staff nurse at IMH, recipient of the Extraordinary Nurse Award. Photo: Robin Choo
SINGAPORE — When she was just 17, her father tore up the application form she was going to submit for an assistant nurse course, because he objected to her career choice and wanted her to take up an office job.
Now aged 72, senior staff nurse Susheela K Chugani will tell you that her instinct about her vocation was right, for she has been a nurse now for 52 years, with the last 22 spent caring for patients at the Institute of Mental Health (IMH).
On Friday (July 29), she took the inaugural Extraordinary Nurse Award at the IMH Nurses’ Day awards ceremony. At the event attended by Minister of State for Health Chee Hong Tat, a total of 19 awards were given to nurses, both individuals and in teams, for their contribution towards excellent patient care and teamwork.
For Madam Chugani, it was a friend of her father who later helped her out by offering his home address to be used for the application form that she sent. It took a while, but a registered mail eventually arrived, offering her an interview with the Ministry of Health.
Since then, she has not looked back, and has gone on to work at various public and private health institutions.
The mother-of-two said that there are no challenges when it comes to her work, because helping patients is instinctive to her.
“Nursing is something very noble. If you can really look after a patient and make him well ... I don’t know how to express this joy I feel,” she said.
For example, she once had a patient who was diagnosed with schizophrenia. He used to be very aggressive when people did not see to his needs, though he did not hit anybody. He also got very upset when he had to be restrained.
Madam Chugani treated him like a friend, explaining slowly to the man that he had to accept his condition and take medication. The man later recovered and is now working. And for the past eight years or so since his recovery, he has been sending her greeting cards every Nurses’ Day.
Another patient she remembers was a man who refused to wear clothes and would lie in his own urine. He did this for four years, and when he was under her care, Madam Chugani persevered in bathing and clothing him, and showing him how clean he would look by holding up a mirror to him.
“Everytime I help somebody who’s sick, you can tell the person is happy. I don’t know how to express this. Even now when I bathe a patient, clean him up, I feel so happy. I’m just born (to be) a nurse,” she said.
Daily, Madam Chugani conducts a morning exercise session with the patients and she would often remind them of the four things they have to do: To love, accept, respect and forgive yourself.
At the awards event on Friday, Madam Chugani and her colleagues were serenaded by guest-of-honour Mr Chee, who sang a short excerpt of You Raise Me Up, made popular by American singer Josh Groban.
Mr Chee said: “We also hope that with more awareness (of the nursing profession), members of the public will show greater appreciation and support for our nurses and healthcare workers.”
