MESSAGE FROM THE EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Abstract

Recently I came down with a little flu and found myself in bed for a while as I was recovering. While enjoying a nice mee hoon soup I thought back to when I was a little girl and how my mother treated me. There was one time when I had fallen sick when I was a child and was bedridden for a few days. As my mother's concern grew she made the decision to take me to the clinic. I was scared and almost refused to go, it was only through my mother's kind insistence and calm patience that I was coerced into following her to the clinic. To my recollection the doctor was large and scary but, holding my mother's hand brought me some comfort. When I found out that I had to get a jab my eyes began to swell with tears and she used her sweet words to soothe my little heart again. When everything was all said and done and we were exiting the office she reached down and gave me a hug, telling me she was proud of the way I had handled myself. Back home she made me a jam sandwich (which was my favorite at the time), put me into bed and waited on me hand and foot until I was better. Thinking back to that day and the way my mother treated me it's no wonder I became involved in the nursing field. 

In this issue we have a few articles that highlight the importance of our mother's examples. One highlights the atmosphere that we need to create in dealing with stroke patients. Another will highlight assessment of anxiety in ventilated patients and the last will look at how we educate maternity nurses. Much like my mother helped to soothe me with her words and actions, we will see that the attitude we show towards our patients help to quicken the healing process and put them in a better mental state.

Although I would like to imagine my experience was special, I know that many people were treated in the same method of patient and loving care when they were children. It is this style of inducing healing which should set an example for all ofus to follow. In plain terms it means to care for someone not because we have to but, because we legitimately are concerned about their well-being. The role of modem nurses is to act in the best interest of the patients and to care about them at the same time. If this attitude can be remembered we can truly make a hospital a warm, friendly, healing abode.