34 SIBUG, Charlene C.

1NUR-8

The sudden re-emergence of the poliovirus entails a significant weight carried by our
health care providers. The country’s healthcare system has come a long way however, it seems
that the power of the media imparts a more significant influence than professionals do. Nurses, in
particular, are undertaking strenuous efforts to provide preventive and curative measures to
establish a safe and healthy community. Apart from administering vaccines, nurses assume the
role of forerunners in rendering health education to their patients. In line with the heightened
relevance of nurses in the community, the UST College of Nursing prides itself on honing well-
rounded nurses who exude professional distinction that allow them to perform beyond
expectations. Coming face-to-face with the epitome of excellent scholastic upbringing, we
witnessed how the UST’s nursing alumni persistently uphold and cultivate their Thomasian
identity despite the dynamic culture of the corporate world. Every individual Thomasian nurse as
represented within every RLE group’s video is a representative of the zeal of respect, excellence,
leadership, innovation, and compassion.

Considering the array of Thomasian nurses whose experiences we have learned about, it
can be noted that Thomasian nurses innately convey the principle of respect in their nursing
endeavors. This practice is best manifested in community health nursing where nurses are of
service to people from different walks of life. It is through this core value that Thomasian nurses
learn to be of service to the Filipino people by unmounting themselves from their high horses and
using their acquired privilege to improve the lives of those around them. Treating a patient as
one’s equal allows a nurse to develop a deeper rapport with a patient; this breaks the social barrier
that hinders health care providers to perform their duties. As one Thomasian nurse puts it, “in
every nursing work that you do, you do it for God, and you do it for the people.” Beyond
comparison, no words are truer than what has been said. Being a Thomasian nurse and being
guided by the provision of respect in the nursing core values, I feel that I am compelled not to
treat everything in face value because once I work in the hospital setting there will be no room for
choices; I will be working with patients that are going to be difficult to manage or challenging to
accommodate. I believe that this value is the most important asset to learn because just like what
our Thomasian alumna had professed, applying the essence of respect will move mountains for
you especially when working for the people that make up our local community.

Having been equipped with a great extent of learning resources, it is apparent that the
UST College of Nursing cultivate intellectually, emotionally, and spiritually superior nurses within
the country. However, it is beyond the crevices of the institution that the genuine Thomasian
excellence peeks through. In fact, one Thomasian nurse interviewee emphasized the notion of
being able to be in coexistence with other nurses that are as equally competent as the
Thomasians nurses in health care practice. While it is true that the workplace contains the most
diverse set of people, Thomasian nurses do not perceive the workplace as a playing field where
everything is a matter of competition. Instead, we recognize that true excellence comes with being
able to coincide with other excellent nurses whose purpose is to likewise provide the best health
care quality possible. Given this idea, the synthesis of a myriad of nursing knowledge is the true
determinant of excellence because this fills in the gap of what the other healthcare professionals
might miss in their practice.

Disregarding inferiority and superiority in the hospital, community, and occupational

settings in a nurse’s everyday dealings is significantly synonymous with preserving the sense of
Thomasian leadership. As mentioned by one of the RLE groups, a Thomasian nurse is always a
step ahead of others. However, I would like to input my perspective on the given idea. While I
believe that Thomasian nurses are known to be pioneers in their undertakings, alongside this, I
am convinced that it is still necessary to consider not leaving anyone behind in the pursuit of
success because it has to be achieved collectively, not egotistically. One of the challenges that
leadership possesses is that it is often difficult to take a step back so that others can step up; it is
hard to maintain the equilibrium because of our constant aim for a higher order of excellence. As
Thomasian nurses, we are called to serve the Filipino community by empowering the members
of our healthcare team and to be able to do this, it might be necessary to allow our team members
to exhibit their expertise in the field and we should only encourage leaders to intervene when the
circumstance deems it necessary. From this idea, it can be deduced that it takes not one, but
many constituents of a group to be able to succeed. Not everyone has to be leaders in the field
of work, instead, every person has to assume a specific role that is fitting to their own strengths
so that points for improvements may not be overlooked in nursing practice.

To remain relevant in today’s society, we, the Thomasian nurses continue to challenge
the norms by creating and reinventing nursing practice that will best suit the needs and demands
of our generation. One great manifestation of a Thomasian nurse innovation is not being afraid to
enter a line of work that partially deviates from being able to physically execute nursing. For
instance, one of the subjects of another RLE group was the involvement of a Thomasian nurse in
Nursing Research. While the given profession conveys not being able to exhibit direct patient-
nurse interaction, nursing research is of high significance and is very timely in today’s generation
because our country is being plagued by recurring diseases such as dengue, and polio, which
could have otherwise been prevented through strengthened patient education involving the use
of vaccines. It is an exemplary work for Thomasian nurses to seek career opportunities in the
research field because this alone proves that we do not settle for what is already available,
instead, we find more ways to innovate and make treatments more suitable for the Filipino people.

The most relevant asset that sets apart Thomasian nurses from others is their deep
inclination to compassion for their clients. As one of the interviewees claimed, Thomasian nurses
are distinct from others because we establish solidified bonds with our patients by exemplifying
grace under pressure. One of the interviewees in the video affirmed that Thomasian nurses
practice being gentle around a patient even under the state of pressure, and this assures patients
that they are in good hands. This attribute conveys that Thomasian nurses sustain the safety and
assurance of their patients by detaching their emotional liability but keeping their responsibility
intact. As Thomasian nurses, it is a given fact that we remain unfazed under stressful
environments because we have been provided with sufficient skills and expertise which allows us
to be pragmatically prepared for the circumstances that are bound to test our capacities as nurses.
 Conclusively, the 2365 hours of related learning experience, 612 hours of lecture, and the
202 academic units that every nurse has taken are not just mere numbers, they are the integral
components that hone a scientifically informed, socially responsible, psychologically resilient,
intellectually responsive, and situationally adaptive, Thomasian nurse. At the end of the day, being
a Thomasian nurse is beyond just having a pristine and well-ironed uniform, a tightly-bunned hair,
and a wrist bearing an analog watch. It is all about the untold story behind the filthy grey scrub
suit, the heavily fluid-stained apron, the blood-splattered pair of shoes, and the hastily
handwritten-filled notepads. These exemplifications alone only prove that being a Thomasian
nurse is more than hard work, it is heart work.