The World Of Tzu Chi(Vol.128)

2020 • 11 58 umanistic Medicine Translated by Kithanjeele Deep Dive to Discover the Journey of Life I am a home care nurse and have been in nursing for ten years. All along, I feel that nursing is a noble profession who is able to provide timely help to patients. It has been my ambition to become a nurse since young and the one who inspired me was my grandma. Growing up with my grandma, never had I thought that I would need to take care of her when I was seven. An accident fall caused Grandma to be bedridden and unable to care for herself. As my parents were out for work every day, the petite-sized me were in charge of my grandma’s daily life. Once, I heard my grandma ringing the bell non-stop to call for help but no one responded. Having seen her being alone in the roomwas heartbreaking, I felt her helplessness and loneliness. This had prompted me to care for her more mindfully and wholeheartedly until she passed away. I learnt of Tzu Chi when I first participated in Tzu Chi Teenagers’ Class in secondary school. Later on, I was inspired by the touching stories of Tzu Chi International Medical Association (TIMA), which included its international relief work, borderless Great Love and humanistic approach to medicine, and vowed to be a TIMA member one day. After graduating from the Nursing College, I chose to work at Intensive Care Unit (ICU). I experienced the separation of life and death, and the impermanence of life; it has taught me to cherish life even more. However, for me, becoming a nurse was not a smooth journey. I almost crumbled under the rigid system and the pressure of rescuing patients day and night. However, every time I participated in Tzu Chi’s activities, I would somehow forget about work stress and, hence, seized every opportunity to contribute. Since I used to work at the ICU, I had the opportunity to work in Singapore as a nurse for Tzu Chi Home Care Services programme, combining occupation and mission*. Although the nature of my new job is somewhat different from the range of care services I was familiar with, this position allows me to visit homes and apply the professional skills I have learned at ICU; I enter the homes of the poor and the suffering to gain a deeper understanding of their stories behind each closed door. Love across races and religions Junah was a Malay patient in her 80s, who had been on wheelchair for a long time and required home calls and rehabilitation. Along with Tzu Chi medical team, we would visit her every two weeks to provide medical treatment and rehabilitation services. According to the needs of the patient, sometimes we would go every week. When Junah was in critical condition, we would go to her twice a week. If we received urgent notification from her family, we would also rush to her immediately. Junah’s family gave me a warm welcome every time I visited, calling out my name enthusiastically. It was around the same time that Junah underwent vascular surgery due to a blocked blood vessel in her left leg, and two long scars were added. After being discharged, due to limited mobility, she was kept on bed. Her wound was to be cleaned once every two days, and, to do that, she