The Director of Primary Health Care Services in the Ministry of Health and Social Services, Naemi Shoopala, has called on all nurses to evolve and sharpen their technology skills as the world becomes increasingly digitised.

Shoopala said this during the commemoration of International Nurses Day at the Katutura Hospital.

Shoopala touched on the importance of universal health coverage and the need for nurses to keep up with the new trends within the profession, which include specialisation and technological advancement.

"Embrace technology and digital platforms. We are in the fourth industrial revolution. The methods of diagnosis, patient care, and treatment are transforming. Early diagnosis, vaccines, and the use of electronic devices and robotic machines will eventually reduce the need for human resources."

A student nurse, Loide Karihinga, considers nursing a calling and reminded fellow healthcare officials of the Florence Nightingale pledge.

"Nursing is having the ability to leave your problems at home and take on another person's problems; to put yourself in a patient's shoes and feel what they are feeling. Nursing is being able to look at a patient and see what they are going through."

Inge Murangi, a retired nurse still in service, added that the pledge of Nightingale should be a continuing legacy in the nursing profession.

Murangi further noted that, despite some negative reports about nurses, the majority have dedicated their lives to the profession.

This, she says, sometimes comes at the cost of their lives and limited resources. Yet they remain focused on service delivery, sympathetic to patients, and respectful of human life.

"One of the best pieces of training that any nurse could want is to focus on the primary goal of nursing health care, which is taking care of your patient. A nurse is a person who can open the eyes of a newborn baby and close the eyes of a dying person."