It’s March 8th, International Women’s Day today and at JP Medicals Recruitment, we are proud to recognize all amazing and proud women in the healthcare industry of the past, and the present.
Women make up half of humanity. During the pandemic, we witnessed some fantastic leadership by women in countries like New Zealand, Taiwan, and Finland. Needless to say, there had been countless women doctors, caregivers, nurses, essential workers who are in the trough right now supporting and taking care of people.
This blog is intended to pay tribute to all proud women in the healthcare field who played a major role during their lives and who are still remembered to date.
What is international women’s day?
International Women’s Day is a day across the world that celebrates the achievements of women at the socio, economic, cultural, and political levels. This day initiates a call to action to boost gender parity. Many significant activities happen during the day to celebrate women’s achievements and in some parts, they even organize huge rallies to indicate women’s equality.
Earmarked to be celebrated on March 8th, International Women’s Day is a crucial day in the year as it:
- Celebrates women’s achievements
- Raises togetherness about women’s equality
- Campaigns gender parity
Raises funds for some female-focused charities
The history of International Women’s day in the healthcare setting
1. The Lady with the Lamp, Florence Nightingale
A caring nurse, a leader, an author of over 150 books including pamphlets, reports on health-related issues, Florence Nightingale is worth cherishing on the day of International Women’s Day. Born in Italy in 1920, Florence went away from being a traditional nurse by becoming a “war-hero” nurse.
In spite of being born into a wealthy family, she entered the nursing profession, which created sneers from many. Unmindful of all that, she relocated to work in London and was in charge of caring for the British soldiers. In a rather orthodox time when women were never employed officially in the army, this move of Florence irked everyone in her family. But she accepted her new role with a lot of willingness.
When Florence first arrived n Crimea in 1854, she went out of her way to make the soldiers feel comfortable by cleaning up their wounds all by herself without even anyone requesting her. That was the compassion she had for her role. Her benevolence in the field can never be compared. Queen Victoria wrote her a letter saying thank you for all her service done. It is undoubtedly Florence’s care that transformed the quality of care in the war field, which went to improve healthcare all over the world.
2. Shoba Manesh, Band 5 Scrub Practitioner employed at University Hospital of South Manchester
Shoba Mahesh is another striking personality for her outstanding work towards the Manchester arena bombing in the year 2017.
It was on May 22 when Shoba first heard the bombing. Her presence of mind made her gather her colleagues and work on strategies on how best to have theatres ready for expected causalities. Single-handedly, Shoba had a team of staff ready to deal with the task.
The best part is Shoba liaised with the anesthetists and surgeons, and in spite of the soaring pressure and rising emergency, she was running three emergency theatres effortlessly with adequate staff, and with another standby. Shoba went beyond her duties as a scrub practitioner to achieve her duty.
She went above and beyond her expected duties and responsibilities to achieve this, and with the support of her colleagues, she was vigilant throughout the night, because of which she was awarded 2017 women of the year.
3. A group of women from the North-West Ambulance Service
This women group has been special for inspiring future generations. They became the limelight for building a career with the North-West Ambulance Service and visiting a number of school children celebrating International Women’s day with a motivational talk.
They organized women from diverse careers from assembly halls to HR Advisors and Community Specialist Paramedics to inspire school children throughout the week and share their stories of victory.
At this initiative, Michael Forrest, the Director of Organisational Development for NWAS appreciated these successful women for showcasing how rewarding the ambulance service career is.
4. Jean Namatova, Assistant in charge and Nursing Officer at Mannya Health Care Centre in Uganda
Jean Namatova was in talks in 2007 for her perseverance and hard work to develop an improved healthcare system. The Mannya village which was filled with the HIV/AIDS community was in need of help. With no proper education, lack of basic infrastructure, and other healthcare facilities, the village was in bad need of a helping hand.
In the year 2009, the foundation completed the new healthcare centre, followed by inaugurating a new maternity ward in the year 2012. The person who was behind all these crucial establishments was Jean!
5. Marie Curie
Maria Curie became popular for her significant role in the evolution of radiotherapy and X-ray. A Polish scientist, Marie Curie was born in the city of Warsaw, and later moved to France, where her incredible discovery transformed the world.
With her husband Curies’ help, she made amazing discoveries about radioactivity. All throughout this discovery, Curies declared the finding Podium and Radium, the new chemical elements. This invention was used to invent radiotherapy that is used far and wide to treat cancer, X-rays, and other dangerous illnesses.
6. Morvia Gooden, former midwife, senior programme lead, a nurse at the NHS Leadership Academy
Morvia was hailed for her leading NHS Leadership Academy towards equality and harmony in the NHS. All through her career in the NHS, Moravia experienced and noticed dire discrimination against black women.
It was in 1988 when Morvia became a midwife that she came to know that it was often the black midwives who were brought to support the NHS, but the treatment they received was very bad. Last year, around 75% of Black, Asian, and minority ethnic (BAME) were bullied. Morvia and her academy have been working hard to unleash and nurture talents through several initiatives while working towards an inclusive culture.
Women have always been a driving force in all sectors of life, and healthcare is not an exception. At JP Medicals Recruitment we would like to say thank you to the each one of you who had been doing an outstanding work every day with complete dedication to the profession. Click here to know about our latest openings here.
