The Nurse | Brunilda Alliu
It is a cloudy Tuesday morning in Durres. Brunilda Alliu arrives to work at 7:30 sharp. As she enters the health center, she greets the receptionist and goes straight to the treatment room where she meets some of her colleagues.
She puts on her white coat and checks the equipment to make sure that everything is in place. After the inspection, she makes herself a cup of coffee and sits on the chair, patiently waiting for the patients to come.
The clock strikes 8:00 before the first patient is in sight, with many others behind. Brunilda quickly gets up and welcomes her with a big smile, which the patient returns. They exchange some pleasantries and then she measures the lady’s temperature and blood pressure, before proceeding with the treatment. It is quick and painless as indicated by the patient’s happy face.
“I love when I have a lot of work. It makes me so happy,” Brunilda laughs.
Originally from Elbasan, the 31-year old nurse has been doing this job for 9 years now with her passion for it growing even earlier.
“During my childhood I had to do a lot of injections and I got so used to them that I reached a point when I was like, ‘I want to do this too,’ ” she says smiling. “I had had enough of people doing injections to me, now I wanted to do them to others.”
This love and passion has only gotten stronger with time and not once does Brunilda regret pursuing this type of profession.
“There has yet to be a moment in my life where I am disappointed in the choice I made. I love being a nurse. I wouldn’t stand doing something else,” she says firmly.
“Especially now with everything that has been happening [COVID], I see how valuable my profession is,” she continues.
While COVID may have stopped the work of many, Brunilda and other medical professionals are at the frontline fighting it.
“It is not easy,” she sighs, “While I have learned many things due to the increasing cases, psychologically it has been exhausting. If before I could differentiate between work and home, now the lines seem to be blurred. It feels like we are co-living.”
Aside COVID, in this type of field, even working with people can prove to be challenging.
“Most of our patients are very understanding and attentive; however there are some which prove hard to handle. I always try to be calm, patient and considerate,” she explains. “There have to be some bad apples for us to appreciate the good ones.”
Nevertheless, she cares for her patients all the same. The bond she has created with many shows as she fondly speaks about them.
“My profession allows me to be close to the patient all the time. It is normal for a connection to form,” she says. “When they recover, we are happier than the patients themselves and when they get worse, we feel terrible too.”
However, she mentions that this relationship isn’t one-sided.
“You should see the look they get in their eyes when they see us. It feels like we embody hope for them,” she shares.
Just as she says that, another patient comes in. This time to take the vaccine shot. Brunilda writes the woman’s name in the register and swiftly prepares the needle. Her eyebrows furrow in concentration as she injects it in the patient’s arm. Her years of experience showing.
“Of course it wasn’t always like this. Beginnings are always hard, however I was brave,” she reveals. “It’s not easy to have someone’s life in your hands, yet the courage I had, helped me overcome that fear. I am better now, but you never stop learning. Every day is new and brings another experience to the table.”
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Brigena Gjoci is studying Psychology, and Journalism and Mass Communications at the American University in Bulgaria. Her mother is a nurse so this topic greatly interested her.
