- The Sigma Theta Tau International association prepared a list of the 100 most daring nurses in Latin America and the Caribbean.
- This organization was created in 1922 by the University of Indiana, in the United States, and is one of the oldest in this field in the world.
- Among those chosen is a Mexican nurse who is the current director of the ENEO at UNAM.
Being able to stand out in the field of health in our country is a very complex task because there are too many high-quality elements. While doing it internationally is even more difficult. Although that does not mean that it is impossible and the best example is a Mexican nurse who is considered among the 100 best in Latin America.
Although it is an item that is often underestimated, the nursing staff is necessary and essential to provide comprehensive care to patients. Their closeness to people is vital to achieve their relaxation and provide the human warmth they require in those moments.
Mexican nurse makes history
With this in mind, Rose Amaryllis Zárate Grajaleswho director of the National School of Nursing and Obstetrics (ENEO) of UNAM, made history. She received recognition as one of the 100 Bold Nurses from Latin America and the Caribbean who promote Excellence in Nursing, from the association Sigma Theta Tau International.
This honor society has as its main objective to strengthen leadership in nursing. It is also responsible for supporting education, training and research initiatives to strengthen this specialty in the world.
The recognition was announced in a official publication of the group for the Latin American and Caribbean Regionon the occasion of the celebration for its first 100 years.
Sigma Theta Tau International, one of the largest nursing organizations in the world, it was founded a century ago, in 1922, at Indiana University, United States, and gradually consolidated into an international society.
#UNAM Newsletter University student, one of the 100 nurses in Latin America and the Caribbean that promotes excellence in this discipline > https://t.co/8xQXaCWTSt pic.twitter.com/5L3b0yVG8Y
— UNAM Press Room (@SalaPrensaUNAM) November 6, 2022
For its first centenary, the group chose the 100 nurses with the most contributions in the Latin American and Caribbean region. There are more than 360 thousand in the world, in more than 700 universities, that are part of Sigma.
“Being the only member of UNAM that is part of that group fills me with pride and commitment.”
Zárate Grajales explained that the Mexico chapter, called Tau Alphais based in the Faculty of Nursing of the Autonomous University of Nuevo León.
New challenges for nursing staff in Mexico
Membership requires hard work which consists of empowering young people, through strengthening the training of undergraduate and graduate students; request their incorporation into the company; perform volunteer activities, work in nursing homes or schools -as in our case-, in order to strengthen the profession in the country.
The director recalled that last March, the creation of the UNAM Doctoral Program in Nursing was approved in a session of the University Council.
“It is considered important, it is an attribute that allows Sigma leaders to identify who is working for nursing in the world and in their country”.
The university student, who was previously recognized by the international group with an award for research, pointed out that the most important challenge for the entity she directs is transition to being a faculty and implement the doctoral program that will welcome its first generation, next January.
It is a large-scale project, longed for in our community, which for more than 100 years has participated in the training of nurses for the country’s health system.
Other challenges are: moving towards higher quality undergraduate programs, in addition to teacher training and better researchers, who show their work in high-level publications and, above all, contribute to the solution of health care problems, and to progress of nursing and education in our country.
Likewise, Zárate Grajales continued, that the ENEO -in its national capacity and as a future faculty- contribute with its leadership to develop public policies in the different health organizations, and in the regulation of professional practice and exercise in the area.
“We must work to achieve, for example, official regulations that allow obstetric nurses to attend low-risk births, or that they can issue prescriptions.”
Of course persist to obtain more recognition for the largest number of members of our community: students, academics, researchers. These are the challenges for the coming years and we are committed to overcoming them.
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