G’Day From Melbourne

BY MIKE BOWEN FROM MELBOURNE

Nurses have always rocked my world - and probably yours! At the time of writing this I have been self-isolated for six weeks, while all my plans for travel in March were squashed. In hindsight I feel blessed that my travels were called to a halt considering the world as it is today. It was expected that I would travel to Doha in Qatar to visit a long time friend of mine – Kirby Kearns, who is CEO of Resolution Productions, the second largest TV Company in Qatar – to work on a mutual product. Even though Kirby was born in Australia to Irish parents, he claims he has 90% more Irish than Australian blood in his veins. From Doha I would have gone on to Ireland for some meetings and lastly on to New York again for some additional meetings. That wasn’t my luckiest escape this year, as my wife and I plus her two friends were tossing up whether we would take a cruise to New Zealand on one of the Princess ships in January. We tossed a coin and opted for the Melbourne round trip rather than a weekend in Sydney. Had we opted for the Sydney trip, who knows what could have happened. Some time ago I wrote an article for a paper in the USA about what I thought was a sad injustice in how some professions were treated compared to others. Why are sports, movie and music so-called super stars paid massive amounts of monies, compared to others? I have always believed that we all have some special talents, for instance Garth Brooks and Madonna sing, Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi play football, Shane Warne played cricket. Then there’s the super groups U2, The Rolling Stones, Coldplay and so on. It’s their job and they do it well, it’s their work. They are doing what they are good at, just like you and me. This brings me to a subject that has bothered me for years, as to why some people see some professions as less important than others. For instance if you travel by bus or train to work, there’s a 99.9% chance you won’t see the drivers face on the next day’s tabloid paper, unless there’s an accident in transit. Is a driver who has the responsibility to deliver you to your stop in good care in a lesser profession and not a hero, considering he or she has your life in hand? Compare the unequal status of nursing compared to the high profile and salaries on the above mentioned superstars. In July 2018 while attending a rugby game in Sydney (Ireland vs Australia), I met with some Irish nurses who were working in Australia. They were protesting in support of their fellow nurses back in Ireland. After a long conversation with them I was shocked to hear of the difficulties that were thrust upon them as they were just trying to do their daily work. For the work the nurses were doing in Ireland they were paid pittance, compared to other professions. I joined their protest in support, by writing about their plight in publications here, in Ireland and the USA, thinking the world might see as I saw the amazing contribution that they make to our lives as I had experienced since my childhood. I have always seen nurses as heroes ever since I was a very young child confined to hospital for very long periods. That was a time when visits were limited and there was no schooling for children in hospitals, no iPad, no iPhone, and no television. Hospitals were a dreary and lonely place for anyone confined there. I used to get so excited in anticipation of the loving wake up calls, from the nurses. The light that always

Above and left: After a protest by Irish nurses for better wages conditions, their colleagues in Australia went out in sympathy with them.

shone for me was the smile on their faces when they woke me up for breakfast. Then it was tickle time to make me laugh, make my bed, sit and comfort me before they went about their daily duties. In their demanding duties of looking after four large wards of adults numbering fifty and I being only one of two children in one of the wards, the nurses always found time to help. Later on, I had major surgery, during the recovery from surgery I clinically died for a short period, who was there to help? My heroes the nurses, they watched over me day and night to assure me, that I didn’t feel like I was battling the crisis on my own. They prayed for me bedside, they read for me, they wiped my tears when I cried in pain and most important they held my hand through the recovery period. No popstars, no movie stars, no football stars, not one in sight, even if they were there they couldn’t do what my superheroes did. They saved my life and for that I and my family will always remain grateful to them. I don’t understand why people see fit to give more credit to certain professions over others. I’ve had the nursing profession top of my list ever since my times in hospital and I fail to see why they have to fight for fair pay and recognition for the amazing work they do. Nurses are at the forefront of emergencies, dealing with the drug addicted, they’re in operating theatres, making home calls to the elderly and delivering babies. Let’s be very honest for a moment, when you’ll be drawing your last breath on this planet, whose hand would you sooner to be holding? A movie star’s? A music star? A football star or a compassionate NURSE’S hand? Nurses are the ones who might have to wash you when you won’t be able to. They are the ones who might have to feed you when you won’t be able to. They are the ones who will be there to comfort you in your hour of need, and more often than not, will be there to give you comfort as you draw your last breath. So, the world has finally come to its senses and now understand who the real heroes are and it took a disaster virus called COVID-19 to convince them of that. Now that the world sees what it was blind to for far too long, let’s put it right and give those angels of mercy the credit and the salaries that comes with their effort and dedication to keeping us all safe. Let’s not belittle them by arguing over fair pay for a fair day’s work coated with love. Like all heroes after a battle, the medals and accolades are dished out, so let’s not forget after this battle is over, who the heroes are and let’s bestow the highest honours in the world to those who worked on the front line. Those nurses put their lives at stake and fought a war for all the nations on earth. Until next, be safe and be good to those who love you.

SLAINTE FROM MELBOURNE