I can vividly recollect how she would return home with tired eyes after working the night shifts when we were about to leave home to go to school in the morning.
by Admiral Ravindra C Wijegunaratne
My late mother was a nurse.She was very beautiful and strong. After 41years of distinguished service in the Government service and having reached the pinnacle of her profession, she went on retirement. Then she went abroad and worked in Norway and Saudi Arabia for a few years. She returned home when we lost our sister due to a tragic accident in Russia.Then for the next 20 years, she worked in private hospitals in Sri Lanka (Nawaloka, Asiri, Central, Delmon in Colombo and Philips at Kalutara). Her last assignment was training young nurses at the Philips hospital in Kalutara’, close to our home in Matugama. She stopped working at the age of 80 years, and that was also with much reluctance. She passed away at the age of 83 years. More than earnings, working and teaching young nurses was her passion. She loved her profession and was highly respected by her trainee nurses.
She was very proud of her profession.I would say, she was a true manifestation of Florence Nightingale. She looked after patients day and night with utmost dedication and care.
She used to narrate how she was recruited into Nursing by the New Zealand and Belgium sisters in the 1950s when she was just 19 years old. She used to tell us that trainee nurses at the time had to undergo tough training under the watchful eye of these foreign sisters who always expected very high standards. Her expertise was in the labour room. She used to boast, "You have to be very strong and caring to work in the labour room. That's why I was selected for that job by the New Zealand sisters." She served in the government maternity hospitals of De Soysa and Castle Street for a very long time during her career.
I can vividly recollect how she would return home with tired eyes after working the night shifts when we were about to leave home to go to school in the morning.By the time we returned home after school, she had already prepared our lunch and was waiting for us to come home. When I recollect those days, now I realize that she must have slept less than five hours, and that was also during the day time with many disturbances. Nevertheless, she never neglected her responsibilities as a mother despite her chosen profession.
In the late-1960s, when my father became the Private Secretary to then Minister of Justice and Head of Senate, Hon Fairly Wijemanna, he wanted my mother to take an early retirement. I was a child of 5 years then, but I could still remember very well that my mother was very angry that day and vehemently refused the suggestion made by my father about her early retirement. That was the last time my father discussed about her early retirement. We were lucky that we had two living-in maids at home, Asilin and Piyasena. Asilin cooked and Piyasena took us to school. My father sacrificed some of his “happy outings” with his friends to be at home with us whenever our mother was working on night duty.
My mother was very proud of her profession, and her dedication and commitment to the patients were unbelievable. Time to time, she used to recollect her working in the labour room at the Castle Street Maternity hospital. I was told that sometimes it could become very tough with three or four deliveries during the same shift. She used to say "how wonderful is it to bring a new life to this World? I am blessed with this job." She had a complete record of all the babies she had helped deliver in her diary. Amazing!
She had one regret. She was working in the night shifts in the mid-1960s. While she was working during one such night shift, she had found a newborn baby categorized as a stillbirth by the nursing staff of the previous shift. (Stillbirth is a baby who is pronounced dead on delivery). The stillbirth had been lying in the labour room ‘Sink’ awaiting the mortuary staff to come and collect. Meanwhile, my mother had held the baby up by his legs and given a hard tap on the back. Miraculously, the baby had started coughing! Pandemonium had erupted in the labour room and the child had been immediately transferred to the Intensive Care Unit. She says, she could not record the baby's name in her diary. My mother used to say "This lucky baby must be still living and he should be around your (my) age." What a story!
When I was the Commander of the Navy, she broke her hip bone. Navy Orthopedic Surgeon Dr. Wijedasa, wanted to treat her in our Navy hospital at Welisara. That was the happiest time she spent before her demise the following year. Her hip replacement was successful but she didn’t want to get discharged from the Navy hospital to go home. She was very popular among the Doctors and nurses at the Navy hospital. She was loved by our trainee nurses too.
My mother had the ability to recollect medical incidents that happened throughout her nursing career and use them for teaching the trainee nurses. I know she was a very good teacher. When she was being discharged from the Navy hospital, there were tears in the eyes of the trainee nurses. She was a graceful lady who would leave a loving impression with whomever she met. I think she inherited this quality from her job. Needless to say, she was very proud of me.
She never kept a count of the income she earned from her Government Nursing Career. When compared to what she earned while being abroad or at private hospitals, it was "peanuts." However, she never complained about it and continued to practice what Florence Nightingale had taught. She used to say "We are Angles for the sick, by caring for them while carrying our lamps at nights and ensuring their speedy recoveries."
This is exactly what the British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said while leaving the hospital after recovering from COVID-19. He paid tribute to the two nurses (Jenny from New Zealand and Louis from Portugal) who treated him during the time he was in ICU taking Oxygen. In his own words, “two nurses who stood by my bedside for 48 hours when things could have gone either way."
More than a tribute just for my mother, this write up is for all of our Nurses, Sisters, Matrons and medical staff we see on TV working tirelessly with dedication and commitment during this difficult time of our country. Your great efforts will help us overcome COVID-19 pandemic and to keep the death rate low.
I know how much you earn as your pay and allowance while in the Government service. I know the difficulties and tiredness of the night shifts. I know you cannot afford to have living-in maids “Asilin and Piyasena” at home with what you earn. I know how much sacrifices your husbands undergo due to your profession. I know how much your children miss you. Do not worry. You are the true disciples of Florence Nightingale. Our Nation is highly appreciative of your work, day-in and day-out.
I see my mother in all your eyes and faces. Your children will one day write and speak of your commitment, as what I am doing for my mother today.
(The writer Retired from Sri Lanka Navy and former Chief of Defence Staff )
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