Nursing is an art; and if it is to be made an art, it requires as exclusive a devotion, as hard a preparation, as any painter's or sculptor's work; for what is the having to do with dead canvas or cold marble, compared with having to do with the living body - the temple of God's spirit? It is one of the Fine Arts; I had almost said the finest of the Fine Arts.-Florence Nightingale
In February, an Air Asia advertisement caused an uproar among the nursing community – and for good reason. The advertisement, which read “You want your momma, because you are in the hospital with lousy nurses,” was termed offensive by the president of the Malaysian Medical Association, Dr N. K. S. Tharmaseelan, as “it belittled the nursing profession1.”
A petition put up on change.org calling for the advertisement to be withdrawn drew more than 1,000 signatures. Among the signatories was Teh, 58, who had devoted most of her life caring for the health and comfort of others. “It was disgusting,” says the retired nurse, who specialised in neonatal intensive care, about the advertisement. “It had absolutely no relevance. It was demoralising to be regarded as such.”
The outrage died down over time, but it has brought to attention the public’s perception of the nursing industry. Like in many other industries, the nursing profession has not been spared the effects of Malaysia’s well-known brain drain. Indeed, in spite of nursing vacancies, many local nurses still find themselves unemployed. This raises questions about our nursing graduates and why so many are disappearing overseas.
