Ms. Anju Balachandran, a COVID ward head nurse at the NMC Royal Hospital, Sharjah was covered in the Khaleej Times on International Nursing Day

As a part of their a tribute to UAE’s frontline warriors on World Nursing Day, Ms. Anju Balachandran, COVID team head nurse at the NMC Royal Hospital, Sharjah was covered in the Gulf News story on International Nursing Day. Read her story below:

“Anju Balachandran, 31, who heads a team of nurses in the COVID ward at NMC Royal Hospital Sharjah was in her last trimester when Covid started. The nurse who joined the hospital in 2017, delivered her firstborn last May, at the peak of the pandemic. Even though Anju had a little baby to look after, she continued attending to Covid patients. Her husband, she says, was very supportive and stood by her decision to not shy away from her responsibilities.

“During the initial days, all of us fearful of taking the infection home. I had a newborn baby, and as much as it was meant to be a precious experience, I was on my guard each time I returned home after hospital. I wondered if it was safe to cuddle or kiss my child and I would cry worrying if I would unknowingly transfer the infection to my boy. But even when I was given the option to not enter the Covid ward because of my little baby at home, I continued doing so to keep up the spirit of my team. How could I not be there when they were showing up day after day with a smile on their faces?”

Talking about the challenges, Anju said Covid-19 is mentally taxing. “The disease isolates you. We saw loneliness, desperation, the fear of staying away from family and no one to talk to. The biggest responsibility was to sound positive in the worst of situations, to keep smiling behind the PPE suit so that it resonated in our voices. We were assigned to give people hope and make them feel that at the end of it all everything would be alright.”

Anju said looking at the gratitude on the faces of recovered patients makes it all worthwhile at the end of the day. “But between all this, we also carry the memories of the ones we lost and that will stay with us forever. The loneliness of patients on the brink of death haunts me even today. I urge all to value life and follow protective measures to save yourself and also others around you. Don’t let your guard down.”

The link for the Khaleej Times article is below:

https://www.khaleejtimes.com/coronavirus-pandemic/covid-19-in-uae-how-these-nurses-went-beyond-the-call-of-duty-to-save-lives