UAE: Filipino nurse among top 10 finalists for $250,000 prize

A Filipino nurse who spearheaded wellness programmes for other nurses and worked to upskill them has been selected as one of the top ten finalists of the third edition of Aster Guardians Global Nursing Award. The 49-year-old Nelson Bautista, who works at Tawam Hospital in Al Ain, was shortlisted from a pool of more than 78,000 nurses from over 202 countries across the world, following a stringent review process.

“Nomination for an award is always motivation to do better,” he told Khaleej Times. “It is not just motivation for myself but it's motivation for all nurses around the world. I hope that I inspire people to do the best that they can.”

The award, which was established in 2022, aims to shine a spotlight on nurses who deliver meaningful work.

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“Each and every one of these nurses have showcased excellence – going above and beyond their duties for the wellbeing of patients and the community,” said Dr Azad Moopen, Founder Chairman of Aster DM Healthcare. “The Aster Guardians Global Nursing Award was established with this very aim – to honour, celebrate and reward the remarkable contributions of nurses and establish them as role models in the field of nursing.”

Wellness Program

Having worked in the UAE for over 16 years, Nelson began noticing many of his fellow nurses struggling during their work. “I could see burnout and staffing issues,” he said. “Many were leaving the profession or the organisation because they were not able to cope with the heavy workloads. And so we wanted to make the nurses more resilient. Coming from a bedside nursing background, I had experienced all these struggles.

He began a holistic wellness program in 2019, just before the Covid pandemic began. “We continued running it even during the pandemic,” he recalled. “Some of the activities were really simple. One day, we distributed healthy sandwiches and juice to the Covid nurses because they could not get out of the room. One nurse took it and began crying because she was so touched by that small gesture. Covid was really one of the darkest times for the healthcare industry.”

He also put in place a wellbeing calendar, which specified themes for each month. “For example, January put a spotlight on eating nutritious food,” he said. “The idea was to just remind the nurses to follow a specific pattern of doing activities that improve their overall wellbeing. You don’t have to reinvent the wheel or make huge campaigns. Sometimes, small things make a huge difference.”

Other initiatives

In addition to this, Nelson also put in place a program that selected champions for each unit, who advocated for and conducted activities for the other nurses in their units depending on their needs. He began a preceptorship program that paired older nurses with new recruits to help them get used to the challenges of the profession.

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