In Bangladesh, if a child says, "I want to be a nurse when I grow up," chances are they will be met with raised eyebrows, awkward silence, or even ridicule. Even today, nursing is rarely seen as a dream profession in many families. More often, it is treated as a backup option- something people choose only when 'better opportunities' do not work out. Yet ironically, nursing remains one of the most essential pillars of any healthcare system. This contradiction says a lot about us as a society. We depend on nurses during our most vulnerable moments, but we still fail to give their profession the respect it deserves.
International Nurses Day which is observed on May 12 every year brings a wave of appreciation posts, campaigns, and symbolic gestures. For a day or two, people remember the contribution of nurses. But once the day passes, conversations around their professional dignity, workplace safety, mental health, and working conditions quickly fade into the background. One of the biggest reasons nursing remains undervalued in Bangladesh is our deeply rooted social mindset. For decades, we have imagined healthcare as entirely doctor-centered. As a result, the constant care, emotional support, and patient management provided by nurses often go unnoticed, despite being critical to recovery and survival.
Many people still think nursing simply means following doctors' instructions. But modern healthcare systems do not function that way. Nurses are not merely assistants; they are trained healthcare professionals who play vital roles in emergency care, patient monitoring, counseling, rehabilitation, and community health services. In many cases, they are the people who spend the most time with patients- noticing small changes, calming fears, and offering reassurance when families are exhausted and overwhelmed.
The working environment only deepens this crisis. In many public and private hospitals across Bangladesh, nurses work under immense pressure. One nurse often has to care for far too many patients at once. Long shifts, emotional exhaustion, lack of adequate rest, and constant mental stress are part of their daily reality. Yet compared to their workload, their salaries, social recognition, and involvement in decision-making remain painfully limited. There is also a quieter form of discrimination attached to the profession. Since nursing is mostly dominated by women, it is often framed as a profession of "sacrifice" and "care" rather than skill and expertise. Society tends to romanticize nurses for their compassion while overlooking their professional rights, training, and labor. Their work is too often judged emotionally instead of professionally.
Perhaps the saddest part is that we truly recognize the importance of nurses only during times of crisis. During the COVID-19 pandemic, thousands of nurses in Bangladesh risked their lives every single day. Many stayed away from their families for months, worked through fear and exhaustion, and carried an unbearable emotional burden. At the time, they were celebrated as "frontline heroes." But once the emergency faded, meaningful discussions about improving their working conditions and professional status faded too.
A strong healthcare system is not built on technology and hospitals alone. It is built on the people who stand beside patients day and night. Ignoring nurses ultimately weakens the entire healthcare structure. It is time we stop treating nursing as a second-choice profession and start recognizing it as the skilled, dignified, and indispensable profession it truly is. Nurses do far more than provide medical care. Often, they are the ones who ease a patient's fear, comfort a worried family, and bring humanity into some of life's darkest moments.
The question is: if we entrust nurses with our most fragile moments, why do we still hesitate to give them the respect they have long deserved?
The writer is a faculty member, Journalism and Media Studies, BGC Trust University Bangladesh, Chittagong
