Staff nurse Iruthaya Stanly is the first point of care at the T.N. Accident and Emergency Care Initiative ward.
| Photo Credit: B. JOTHI RAMALINGAM
There is rarely a quiet moment at the emergency department of the Government Stanley Medical College Hospital (SMCH). Every passing minute is crucial as patients are wheeled in non-stop, and their anxious relatives move around restlessly. Amid the rush, the noises and commotion, Iruthaya Stanly has her job cut out, knowing well that every shift will be nothing short of hectic.
Running the triage area is no easy task, but the 40-year-old staff nurse remains calm under pressure. Every patient wheeled into the emergency department passes through her; she is the first point of care at the Tamil Nadu Accident and Emergency Care Initiative (TAEI) ward.
She carefully notes down their details, checks their vital parameters ensuring that they are promptly triaged and moved into the appropriate ward without delay. “You have to be patient, kind, and observant, and at the same time, act fast as no time can be wasted at the emergency department’s triage,” she said.
From what started off as an occupational choice, nursing turned out to be where her heart was. It was the profession that brought her to Chennai, over 600 kilometres from her home at a village in Tiruchendur.
Tracing the journey
“No one from my village was in government jobs. A person in my village pursued nursing, and that made me choose the profession,” she recalled. Her journey in Chennai began in 2012, when she was posted at the Intensive Medical Care Unit of the SMCH.
Five years later, she moved to the emergency department where she continues to work till date.
There is no dearth of challenges for staff nurses, she and her colleague J. Ammu, trauma nodal nurse, agreed.
“Every day, at least 280 to 300 patients are seen at the emergency department. The night shift is for 12 hours, and we see a lot of critical cases at night, including those injured in assaults,” she pointed out.
But Chennai is more than a home to her as the city has given her life lessons. “Coming from a quiet life in a village, Chennai’s busy life has taught me to keep going. I learnt to be bold and independent here,” she added.
