International Nurses Day

May 12 was International Nurses Day, and here in Bangladesh, it is celebrated with much more enthusiasm and formality than I have ever seen in Canada!

On May 12 in the afternoon, the nursing students at IUBAT hosted a Nurses Day celebration for nursing faculty and students. The first half of the 3-hour program was quite formal. As each nursing faculty member entered the room, the students applauded (it surprised me…I wasn’t expecting that!), and the most important guests (key nursing faculty members and the university’s chancellor) had to sit at a table at the front of the room. Then, of course, it was time for speeches. The entire nursing faculty, a couple of the students, and the chancellor spoke. I am considered visiting faculty, and the students gave me about 5 minutes warning that they would like me to make a speech as well! So when it was my turn, I did some quick thinking and managed to find something to say…and I think it went pretty well, thankfully! Here’s one of the students making his speech…

After speeches, it was time for cake! The students had ordered a very elaborate cake that they also decorated with candles. (Lighting the candles was a bit tricky…took a few tries and required the fans to be turned off, but eventually we got them all lit!) There also had to be a wedding-style cutting of the cake by the nursing faculty and the chancellor…and then the cake was devoured. Here’s what it looked like…

After the cake, it was time for the ‘Cultural Program’. This involved some singing of traditional Bangla songs, a couple of Bangla-inspired hip-hop dances (one to a Shakira song…) and a couple of games. It was fun to spend time with all the students and share some laughs with them – they are really very friendly and are a lot of fun, which is great. The students and faculty all speak English, so that makes it easy to get to know them.

On May 13, we (the visiting faculty – there are 4 of us) went to a big private hospital for their very formal Nurses Day event. This one followed the same format as our students’ program (speeches then the ‘Cultural Program’) but at this event I got to see some more traditional Bangla dancing and singing. Here are some of the dancers…

 Happy International Nurses' Day!