Nurse

With a sister who was a nurse and a brother who became a Catholic priest, she was inspired by their dedication and sought to follow in their footsteps.

“My family’s commitment to service and faith showed me the path I wanted to take,” she recalls.

In 2003, Sr Annabel was accepted into the Missionary of the Sacred Heart, a missionary congregation in the Catholic Church.

In 2013, she applied to St Mary’s School of Nursing and obtained a Diploma in General Nursing and served at the St Mary’s Vunapope Hospital.

She works alongside six community health workers and a male nurse.

Annie says they attend to five to six deliveries in a day, while two to three mothers deliver at home or on their way to the hospital.

“I find joy in myself if I do a procedure and it turns out successful and the mother and the baby are well,” she says.

Annie started working in the Balimo Hospital labour ward as a nurse in 2017, when there was no midwife. She was the only nursing officer among the community health workers.

Serving at the Evangelical Brotherhood Church (EBC) Kassam Rural Hospital, Lalu is part of a dedicated team of healthcare professionals working tirelessly to save lives in some of the country’s most challenging conditions.

For Lalu, nursing was always her calling.

“I was four when my dad asked me what I wanted to become, and I said ‘nurse’.

“It wasn't until later, when I was in high school, that I realised it was my vocation and calling,” she shared.

Since then, Lalu has had many rewarding experiences as a nurse, but one stands out above the rest.

“My village is located in a remote area where most of my relatives lost their lives along the way when seeking medical assistance,” she shared.

Carolyn recalls seeing patients in line at the hospital for two or three hours before being attended to when she visited in her high school years. This inspired her to become a nurse, believing she could help to shorten the queues and provide health care to rural areas in need.

Carolyn graduated from Lae School of Nursing in 2021 and has been working in the surgical section at the Lorengau General Hospital since February 2022.

This international day is celebrated around the world on 12 May (the anniversary of Florence Nightingale's birth) each year, to mark the contributions nurses make to society.

The theme for this year is 'A voice to lead - achieving sustainable development goals'.

PIH celebrated the day with in-house presentations and dramas staged by each departments within the hospital. The message stressed was being the voice.