Author: Indu Jaiswal

As we all know, May is National Nurses month and May 6 to 12 is National Nurses Week. On May 25, Dr Renee Mehrra of Reenbow Media and Indian American Forum organized a webinar in honor of National Nurses Week celebrations. Mrs. Indu Jaiswal, RDN and Chair of IAF together with Dr Urmilesh Arya Co-Chair of the event presented the program via ZOOM. Dr Renee Mehrra in her welcome remarks spoke about the importance of Health Care workers and to recognize for their services. Co Host of the evening Dr Bhavani Srinivasan spoke about the importance of Nurses in providing Quality care to patients all over the world.

Indu Jaiswal introduced Honorable Deputy Supervisor from Town of Hempstead MS Dorothy Goosby, who congratulated all Honourees and thanked Nurses and health care employees for their valuable services. Also present was Nassau County Legislature Rosemarie Walker, who thanked the nurses and congratulated all Honourees.

Tara Shajan, RN , NAINA Treasurer and Director of Nursing from Lincoln Hospital spoke about the history of Nursing profession, how Nurses are advancing in the Medical Field and paid tributes to Florence Nightingale, Lady with the Lamp.

Ms Anuradha Khanna started the program with Ganesh Vandana. Five nurses were recognized, and presented with Citations from Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman and Nassau County Legislature Rosemarie Walker

Suda Sharma: Born in Nairobi, studied in London and worked in USA as Registered Nurse. Along with Nursing, she is the founder of Three Community projects that started 19 years ago. She started the Annual Food Drive for Long Island Soup Kitchens and Homeless Shelters., Penny project for Foster Children, and Fundraiser for Safe Home. Suda is very active in all community activities.

Jaya Bahadkar studied Nursing in Bombay and has worked in Nursing in the USA for more than 25 years. She is also a Pillar of Indian American Community, very active in IALI, IAF, India Home and several other organizations’ is was recognized by Assembly woman Michele Solages Office Woman of Distinction Award in 2019.

Tara Shajan was born in Pondicherry, India graduated in Nursing. She has her private pilot license. In 2004 migrated to USA and worked as RN, progressing into leadership experience in Health care services, She is currently Treasurer for NAINA, Director of Nursing in Lincoln Hospital Tara is also very active in community services in USA and has received several awards.

Suja Madhu Studied Nursing in India and is a nurse for more than 40 years. Migrated in the USA in 1987 and started working as an assistant nurse manager in 1992 in Northwell. In 2008 transferred to Zucker Hillside Hospital and continues to work there still. She has been recognized as the Nurse of the Year award 2023for Northwell Health…

Grace Alexander was commissioned from Secunderabad as Lieutenant and midwifery from INHS ASVINI. After few years of work in Medical surgical floors, she worked at University Hospital in Saudi Arabia for 15 years and migrated to US in 2006. She has 20 years of experience as a med-surgical nurse and 15 years in OR. She is a Life member of NAINA and AORN. Currently she serves as Awards and scholarship chair in INANY 2021-2022 and member of scholarship committee.

Several distinguished members joined and praised the efforts of Nurses and their profession. Dr Rajiv Jauhar, Chief of Cardiology at North shore University hospital also commented on the importance of Nursing staff and their contributions in patient care in the Hospitals.

Dr Jagdish Gupta, a past President of the biggest County Medical Society in the State of New York and serving Brooklyn Community as a Physician for 50 years, said, “I truly believe that Nurses are an integral part of our healthcare team, and they play the most significant role in the care of our patients while in the hospital during the most critical period. Physicians, no doubt as leader of the team, are very important but, with time constraints, are only able to spend limited time. Servicing and caring are left to nurses, so much so, that it has become part of the fabric of their DNA to serve since Florence Nightingale time. Their compassion, dedication and expertise make a remarkable difference in the lives of countless patients every day. As a community leader and President of AIA(NY) Chapter, I am grateful for their unwavering commitment to providing exceptional care and making a positive impact on the World. During this “National Nurses Appreciation week. We honor and celebrate you as you are true heroes in every sense, today and every day.”

Gobind Munjal, National President of The Association of Indians in America (AIA) said, “May 6 is National Nurses Day, an annual opportunity to appreciate the nurses in our lives and remind ourselves of the innumerable ways they contribute to our health and the well-being of those we love. People have celebrated nurses for decades, but it wasn’t until the 1980s that the United States honored these integral healthcare professionals with their own day of recognition. National Nurses Day is the first day of National Nurses Week, which takes place from May 6-12 each year and concludes on International Nurses Day, the birthday of Florence Nightingale.”

The 2023 Nurses Week theme “Nurses Make a Difference: Anytime, anywhere – Always”

Nurses work every day to ensure patients get the care they need — and the comfort and compassion they deserve. The complex nature of nursing continues to be physically and emotionally draining, yet nurses carry on providing quality patient care and moving the profession forward, which reinforces the importance of nurse appreciation.

“Nurses need to be emotionally, psychologically, and morally refueled regularly to enable them to resist burnout and its many negative impacts such as moral distress,” said Bonnie Barnes, FAAN, Co-Founder of the DAISY Foundation, in a Nurse.com blog. One way to do this is through expressions of gratitude.“Nurses are refueled when they know they have made a difference in the life of a patient or family member, especially when they were unaware of the difference they made,” said Barnes.

This is why nurse appreciation events are so important. Nurses’ contributions are celebrated and recognized each year — as they should be — through special nurse appreciation days, weeks, and months set aside to honor nurses and their specialties.

Thanks to the Honorees and all nurses. We do appreciate the work that they do. Happy Nurses week to all the nurses present here. The webinar was well attended and some of the Community members present were Mrs. Neelam Modi, MS Nalini DAS RD, Sandy Bhatia, Dr Usha Bansal, Mr Amba Sharma, Dr Sollymol Kuruvilla RN PHD, Dr Shyla Roshin RN DNP,Mr Paul Panakal RN MSN, Dr Esther Devadas RN DNP the webinar was successful with the cooperation of Mrs. Flora Parekh Mrs. Beena Kothari, Anju Sharma, Sanju Sharma, Dr Renee Mehrra, Dr Bhavani Srinivasan and Dr Urmilesh Arya. For further details check Website www.indianamericanforum.org.