Jammu: “Health workers too feel defeated on loss of lives, yet the hope for good time never dies” said State awardee Senior Staff Nurse, Kanta Devi, as she shares the moments of despair & hope for return of good time while working as Incharge High Dependency Ward for Covid-19 patients at Government Medical College Jammu.
Full of spirit, Kanta Devi says, ‘No matter how tough my job is, I do not want to run away from it. I just wish that the pandemic passes away and I get back to treating people as usual. Too many people have died already and I pray it ends right away.’
Kanta Devi is the only nurse to have been rewarded with the State Award for Public Meritorious Services at the 2021 Republic Day.
‘Before the recent surge of Covid spread, at one time there were only three patients left in the High Dependency Ward of GMC. I had assumed that the pandemic is over and we would be back to our normal lives, it wasn’t so’! Soon the cases start rising again and the misery doesn’t seem to end, laments” Kanta Devi.
‘Many a times, we develop an emotional bond with our patients. There was a patient from outside J&K. He talked to us, told us stories from his life and about his home. And when he lost after fighting the virus for two months, we felt defeated. I wish we could console all such families’, regretted Kanta Devi.
Speaking about her own family life, Ms Kanta said that hers is a nuclear family as she lives with her husband and two kids. She said, ‘Since the lockdown, my husband’s business is shut and he has been taking care of the kids. Earlier I didn’t even know if my kids were eating well or not. Despite his business being shut, I am happy that the kids have their father around! He has also taught them some kitchen skills but they are too young to be let alone on their own’.
Turning the conversation back, Kanta Devi says, ‘At present, my job is to manage staff, supplies and patients. Family figures at the end of my priorities’.
