Vitals:
Home City – Chitral, Northern Area of Pakistan
Worked In – Sharjah, UAE (4.5 years)
Profession – Infection Control Nurse / Registered Nurse
Education – BScN, 2013 (Aga Khan University School of Nursing and Midwifery)
My name is Hassina Sheraz Anjum, and I am from Chitral in the Northern areas of Pakistan. I completed my basic education in my hometown and then moved to Karachi for further studies. I am residing in the UAE and am designated as a Registered Nurse and Instructor with comprehensive experience. I completed my Bachelor of Nursing in 2013 from The Aga Khan University School of Nursing and Midwifery (AKUSONAM). After completing my internship, I joined AKUH as a Registered Nurse. I was able to gain experience in the Medical, Surgical, and Endoscopy Departments, and the journey at AKUH brought out the best in my personality.
I visited the UAE in 2015 and was fortunate to join Al-Zahra Private Hospital, Sharjah as a Registered Nurse in the post anesthesia care unit, a role which I recently completed. My skills and experience helped me to become a basic life support instructor. The role required me to train healthcare workers including nurses and doctors, and to evaluate their skills and knowledge. I received the best nurse of the year award in 2016 and an award of distinction for innovative ideas in 2019. I have been an active speaker in different educational training sessions and have been involved in diverse projects that could improve patient safety and bring quality in healthcare settings.
Inspiration:
Life in a small village is difficult and access with long roads and many trees, and the snow makes things difficult to accomplish. It was my inspiration to help those who tried every possibility to access food and shelter for their families. As a young child, I realised that I could serve my community and humanity as my future inspiration. The inspiration I chose was this noble profession - Nursing.
Former Role:
As an infection control nurse, my role was to determine, prevent and contain infectious outbreaks in the healthcare setting. Our infection control team worked on various aspects, analysing infection data, facts and trends and sharing findings with other healthcare professionals. We kept medical staff up to date on proper sanitation practices. I worked on Employee health records where my responsibility was to follow up with all staff working in isolation wards. I also worked to urgently identify all patients and other healthcare workers who might have come in close contact with a COVID-19 positive patient. As a team, we had to work to safeguard the health of professionals and provide them mental and emotional support.
Learning:
Every situation like this has negative and positive consequences - the positive consequence is how the situation brought people together. We have also made great progress in terms of research and the development of vaccines.
The negative consequences include the death of so many people around the globe, including those in our community. There are financial crises that may hurt certain countries. The global lockdowns have affected so many of the world’s business activities, putting vulnerable populations at risk of hunger.
Advice:
“Health is wealth” – this saying fits the current situation. A healthy lifestyle should be a priority of each individual regardless of societal status. Living a healthy lifestyle includes hand hygiene, social distancing, regular exercise and a healthy diet. This can help in preventing infectious diseases and long-term illnesses. The most important thing is to regularly check yourself for any signs of COVID-19 and take care of your health, which is also important for self-esteem. Maintaining a healthy lifestyle by doing what is better for your body is the key to a healthy life.
