The Nursing Working Group of FKKMK UGM again held the 13th Annual Scientific Meeting on Saturday (7/3) in the Auditorium Room, 1st Floor of the FKKMK UGM Tahir Foundation Postgraduate Building. This event held a talk show discussing the topic of “Optimizing the Role of Nurses in Disaster Management”.
Several speakers were invited to speak in this talk show, such as Prof. dr. Laksono Trisnatoro, M.Sc., Ph.D., (Professor of FKKMK UGM), Amelia Kurniati, S.Kp., MN. (Chairman of the Indonesian Association of Emergency and Disaster Nurses), Sutono, S.Kp., M.Kes., M.Kep. (UGM Nursing Lecturer), as well as Dr. Ridlwan Kamaludin, S.Kep., Ns., M.Kep (PPNI).
According to Syahirul Alim, S.Kp., M.Sc., Ph.D., head of the event committee, the theme was chosen because he remembered the current condition of the world, including Indonesia, which is always prone to disasters, both natural and human causes. He then referred to the current Covid-19 outbreak, that could also be regarded as a disaster. In a state of disaster, nurses have become an important part of the response. Due to the range of cases experienced by patients, whether it be the type of disaster or the geographic environment, nurses are expected to be ready to face these challenges.
Apart from the talk-show, there was also the launch of the Nursing Now Indonesia campaign by representatives of the UGM FKKMK, DIY Health Office, Network Hospital, BPBD, DIY nursing associations, PPNI, and the participants who attended.
The Nursing Now campaign itself had started globally since 2018 by WHO in collaboration with the International Council of Nurses. This campaign aims to improve health by increasing the profile of nurses as a health worker with nearly 50 percent of the total health workforce worldwide. Thus, this campaign is expected to motivate nurses to play a massive role in achieving Universal Health Coverage.
The campaign focuses on 5 areas, consisting of; ensuring that nurses and midwives have a more “vocal” voice in health policy formulation; supporting greater investment in nursing personnel; recruiting more nurses to occupy strategic positions in policy making; conducting research to show where nurses can make the most impact; and sharing information on best nursing practices.
Finally, the representative from the Dean of FKKMK UGM, dr. Sri Awalia Febriana, M.Kes, Sp.KK (K), Ph.D., stated that the talk-show and launch were important for the Indonesian people in general, as well as those who work as nurses. “The majority of health workers in Indonesia are nurses. The level of satisfaction of a patient in the hospital is also higher depending on the nurse. That’s because they spend more time interacting with patients. With disasters in Indonesia happening all the time, I think it is time for this campaign. “Viva Indonesian nurses,” he concluded.
