Under the rain of rockets, next to the patients' beds The war dissuaded some of the nurses from emigrating The sacrifice of nurses should not hide their livelihood problems

From reviving a baby in the dark of the park and under the shadow of rockets to a nurse who banned immigration; The nurses' narration from the days of war is the story of the sacrifice of those who did not leave the patients alone and stayed even though they were worried about their families or their children were left alone at home during the bombing and war.

Ambassador Arjan-Maryam Sarkhosh: For them, war was not just the sound of explosions and sirens; It was a tough test between saving one's own life and saving others. Nurses who held babies under the shadow of rockets, took patients to safe areas, and stayed by the patient's bedside even when their own children were alone at home. Manijeh Ahani, Educational Supervisor of Hakim Children's Hospital and Maryam Amini, Superintendent of Moheb Kausar Hospital, were special guests of the program "Tandresti" on the occasion of Nurse's Day on Ambassador Arjan TV and told about the bitter and sweet experiences of the war days; The days that, according to them, showed a different manifestation of the sacrifice and commitment of Iranian nurses or dissuaded some of them from leaving.

Days where every moment was a story of love

The educational supervisor of Hakim Children's Hospital says about the experience of the nurses of this hospital during the war days: The war days were full of scenes of love and sacrifice for us despite all the hardships. Each of those days that we remember, a different memory comes alive in our mind. From the very first day of the war, when a piece of a drone warhead hit one of the walls of the hospital, until the hours when we had to replace hospitals at risk, we quickly provided the conditions for the admission and transfer of children and babies. Even the moments when we had to move patients in critical situations and bring them to safe places, each one had strange and different stories.

Ahani continues: Hakim Children's Hospital is located in the 18th district of Tehran and near Azadegan highway, and for this reason, the possibility of directly admitting war wounded was less there, but it had a suitable position to admit patients from hospitals that were in crisis and had to quickly evacuate and transfer their patients.

Nurses who had no war experience

The head of the hospital, Moheb Kausar, also explains about the presence of young nurses in critical situations: many young nurses, especially those born in the 70s, had no experience of war, and the 12-day and 40-day war was their first serious crisis experience. We have a large number of young nurses in the hospital, and one of the special events that I witnessed in those days was the announcement of the voluntary readiness of these forces to attend work shifts. Even though they had no experience of such conditions, they volunteered so that the shifts would not be empty.

Amini, referring to the location of Moheb Kausar Hospital in the center of Tehran, continues: the areas around our hospital were hit many times and very difficult conditions were created, but the young nurses did their work regardless of the dangers that threatened them and did not give up caring for the patients.

Amini then mentions one of the strangest events of the 12-day war; The story that later became a part of the narrative of the movie "Midnight": For all people, the hospital is one of the safest places in the war, but our enemy showed that the school, the child, the patient and the hospital are no different for him. In the 12-day war, we had a heavy hit near the hospital, and everyone thought that the hospital itself might be targeted a few minutes later.

He continues: As one of the volunteer forces, I was spending my third night shift in a row. At around 12:00 PM, the first explosion was heard. The first floor of the hospital has a glass facade, and for this reason, an initial evacuation order was issued so that the patients of this floor and the negative first floor were transferred to safe areas. In the same situation, a pregnant mother entered the hospital. He came from Alborz province and visited several other hospitals on the way, but he was not admitted.

According to Amini, this mother's condition was urgent and there was no chance to transfer her to another hospital: we did not have time to send her, nor was it possible to implement another program. Together with the resident gynecologist of the hospital, we decided to prepare the delivery room quickly. After the transfer of patients, we started giving birth on the second floor of the hospital. At the same time, it was announced that a missile had hit near the hospital's oxygen tank, and because the tank was full, there was a possibility of explosion and widespread destruction. For this reason, the immediate evacuation of the hospital was ordered. I informed the authorities that we were in labor and that a baby was being born in the operating room. Gynecologist and anesthesiologist were also present in the room.

Amini considers the moments after the birth of the baby to be one of the most unforgettable experiences of her nursing career and says: I quickly returned to the operating room and the moment the baby was born, the crisis code was announced. I hurriedly wrapped him in a blanket and ran to the park near the hospital with the necessary equipment. The baby's father was behind the operating room door. I explained to him that the situation is critical and that his child is in my hands for now.

He continues: The lights in the park were completely off and I had to perform CPR in a dark corridor. It took a few minutes for the baby to return to its normal state and to start crying. His father was with us all this time. When the baby's condition got better, I told her father that I could hand over her child to him, but he said it would be better for the baby to stay with me.

According to this nurse, the baby's mother was taken to the park after giving birth and a strange thing happened to her: when the mother regained consciousness and opened her eyes, she thought she was in heaven; Because she didn't think that she would wake up under the trees of a park after giving birth. That night was a strange and unforgettable experience for all of us.

My family found out from the movie what kind of night I had spent

Amini goes on to explain about the reflection of the story of Moheb Kausar Hospital in movies and documentaries: The movie Midnight that was released, like many movies, was a narration of a real event, although with seasonings that were added for a cinematic narration. But in my opinion, the documentary "Bomb and Hospital" had an atmosphere closer to what happened that night in Moheb Kausar Hospital. In this documentary, all the people who were present at the hospital that night were interviewed, and the interviews and even the filming location were real. Of course, Mr. Mahdovian tried to do justice to the content in the movie Midnight, and his previous experiences have shown that he can portray critical moments well.

This nurse also tells about another interesting incident: I didn't tell my family what difficult conditions we went through in the hospital that night. They had only heard that a rocket had been hit near Yousafabad. When they called, I said I was fine and there was no problem. But after the publication of some videos and pictures of me, they saw what happened to us that night and what difficult conditions we experienced.

That night I decided not to leave Iran

Amini believes that the experience of the 12-day war made a number of nurses reconsider their decision to emigrate. He himself is one of these people and says: I always think that the 12-day war made many nurses stop emigrating. I myself was supposed to travel to one of the neighboring countries to visit the embassy. I had received an admission from one of the universities in England and I was supposed to leave Iran in September 1404 after the finalization of the visa. But what happened that night in the hospital and the strange moments I experienced with that baby made me decide to stay. After that, many people told me that I made a mistake, but until today, I have not regretted my decision even for a moment.

Remembering that night, Amini says: Whenever I remember those moments, the mothers who thanked us in the park come before my eyes. The fact that we did not leave the patients and mothers alone in those difficult circumstances was very valuable to me. These experiences made me decide to stay in my country and continue my work.

Dispatch of nurses to the hospital where there was a possibility of re-injury

Ahani also mentions the experience of transferring babies from hospitals at risk and says: Arash Hospital was ordered to evacuate due to a missile hit, and due to the threats raised about the targeting of railway lines, there was also the evacuation of Bharlo Hospital near the railway station. We should have provided conditions for the rapid transfer of babies from these hospitals to Hakim Hospital.

He explains about the day he was hit in Arash Hospital: I was on duty that day and worked as a clinical supervisor. We decided to send a number of nurses familiar with the special care of newborns to transfer patients. We had to coordinate the forces very quickly. On the other hand, some families had gone to the hospital and insisted on taking their hospitalized child with them right away. Everything was hectic and unpredictable. I really didn't know if I should be responsible to the parents or coordinate the transfer of the babies and the deployment of troops. The situation was not good at all and I had a strange concern. I was supposed to send my colleagues to a hospital where there was a possibility that the rocket would hit it again and they might not come back. I told them there was a possibility of the building collapsing and an explosion, but none of them thought about these dangers and prepared to leave very quickly.

He continues: Many times I thought to myself that it would be better to go personally and not risk the lives of my colleagues. Even until the troops were ready, I went to the ambulance two or three times to get on it myself and go to Arash Hospital. Finally, my colleagues were dispatched and I was full of anxiety and worry during all the three hours they were there.

Transfer of 6 babies under the shadow of the threat of attack on the railway

This educational supervisor also says about the transfer of babies from Bharlu Hospital: We had similar conditions for Bharlu Hospital. There was a concern that the railway station would be targeted during the same period of time that our forces were in the hospital. Despite these risks, my colleagues carried out the transfer mission and we were able to transfer 6 babies from Bharlu Hospital to Hakim without any tragic incident.

Ahani emphasizes: What remains in my mind most of all from those days is the exemplary commitment of the nurses, who in those moments, the only thing they did not think about was risking their own lives. They knew what conditions they might face, but they did not hesitate for a moment to save the sick and the babies.

No training can replace the actual experience of the crisis

In another part of this conversation, Ahani points out the difference between academic training and the reality of the crisis and says: Nurses are trained about crisis management during their studies, but with the experience of the war days, I really feel that none of the academic topics can fully describe the conditions you experience at the moment of the crisis.

To explain this issue, he points to the behavior of patients' families in critical moments: we were taught that in dangerous situations we should be moved to safe places quickly, but in reality, how can one calm down a family who takes their patient outside in a wheelchair and blocks the way in and out, and convince them to move him safely to a safe place? Such situations are very difficult to control, because families just want to get out of the hospital as quickly as possible.

This nurse also mentions the memory of that day when the drone hit the wall of Hakim Hospital, which marked the same experience: at that time, there were patients in the intensive care unit who were connected to ventilators. In the situation where patients and staff had to be moved to safe places, it was not possible to move these patients. Two of our colleagues agreed to stay on the ward and continue to care for patients.

He continues: There was another problem, many of our colleagues had left their children at home. When the bombing took place, they were taking care of sick children in the hospital, while their own children were left alone at home. The stress that these nurses endured in those moments is really unimaginable.

According to Ahani, these experiences revealed the human nature of the nursing profession more than in the past: "During the war, the field of nursing showed how human it is and its value cannot be measured by any material calculations. "Despite all the management and planning that had been done, we saw with our own eyes that in crisis situations, things may happen that are completely out of our control."

Appreciating the performance of the young health workers, this educational supervisor says: I say with confidence that the young generation of nurses and doctors showed their abilities and commitment well during the war. Despite the economic pressures and heavy psychological burden they experience in the best years of their lives, these young people did not distance themselves from professional ethics and did not abandon their duties in critical situations. The fact that a young nurse is not willing to exchange her homeland for anything else has a very high value; A value that was well demonstrated during the days of the 40-day war.

The sacrifice of nurses should not cause livelihood problems to be ignored

At the end of his speech, Ahani also mentions the economic problems of nurses and says: How can you set a price for nursing services that are completely human in nature? Of course, this does not mean that we do not express the problems of this profession clearly. Nurses serve patients with long shifts, heavy work pressure and high psychological burden, and the minimum expectation is that they can live an average life in terms of salary.

Regarding the measures taken to improve the living conditions of nurses, he says: In recent years, due to the efforts of Dr. Ebadi, the deputy minister of nursing at the Ministry of Health, good things have happened in the field of nurses' wages and the pricing of nursing services has entered the treatment system, but the problem here is that the inflation rate has always been so high that wages have lagged behind it.

This nurse considers the most important demand of her colleagues to improve their living conditions and continues: effective action must be taken to improve the living conditions of nurses. Part of the nursing workforce migrates, but there are also many who do not want to migrate at all and like to serve in their own country. Given the right conditions, even many who are considering leaving would prefer to stay.

A profession that is not worth serving in that ceiling

Amini also says about the position of the nursing profession and the problems of the forces in this field: one of the most important characteristics that makes a person enter the nursing profession is the spirit of sacrifice and resilience. The nurse must take care of the patients and sometimes even when her own family needs help, she has to put their needs as the next priority, because her duty is to serve the patients. For this reason, it is not possible to set a ceiling for the value of work that is directly related to human lives. In some countries, the economic conditions of nurses are so secure that they have no other serious concern except serving patients. In Iran, positive measures have been taken in this field, but it is still necessary to take bigger steps to support nurses.

Emphasizing the importance of maintaining specialist personnel in the health system, Amini says: the main capital of any country is its youth and workforce. We have witnessed the migration of a large number of Iranian nurses to European countries, and to be fair, many of them are elite and capable forces. Our universities train a nursing force with great effort and expense, but when these forces are not properly supported, they decide to migrate. This is not a good thing and it is a pity that our best nurses go to countries like Germany and Switzerland.