LONDON: Shanti Teresa Lakra, a nurse working with primitive tribes in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, and Kerala-born Jincy Jerry from Ireland are among the 10 finalists of a global award honouring nursing staff worldwide. Lakra from GB Pant Hospital in Port Blair was awarded the Padma Shri in 2011 for her incredible service to the tribal community of Andaman and Nicobar — gaining their trust over the years, overcoming the language barrier and providing medical assistance whenever they needed it.
Lakra and Jerry, the assistant director of nursing for infection prevention and control at Mater Misericordiae University Hospital in Dublin, were selected from 52,000 entries sent by 202 countries for the Aster Guardians Global NursingAward 2023, which carries a prize-money of more than Rs 2 crore. The finalists will be evaluated by a judging panel and the result declared at a ceremony in London on May 12, coinciding with International Nurses Day. As many as 13,156 nurses applied from India in the second edition of the award.
“My whole world belongs to the tribes-folk living in a very interior and isolated part of Andaman and Nicobar,” Lakra said. When the 2004 tsunami hit the island of the Onge tribe and drove them deep into the jungle, she made her home with them and lived in an open tent. She recalled assisting an Onge teenager deliver a premature baby weighing less than a kilo on the night of the tsunami. Lakra said if she wins the award, she will use the cash to create an NGO to provide healthcare to the endangered native islanders. Lakra, born in Rangat on Middle Andaman Island, also wants to fund Onge youngsters wishing to train as nurses.
Jerry, who moved to Dublin in 2006 after training as a nurse in Delhi’s Jamia Hamdard, was nominated for a robotic system she introduced in her Dublin hospital in March 2020. Inspired by the banking sector, it has drastically reduced the administrative work of nurses, eliminating human error, allowing nurses to spend more time with patients and improving job satisfaction and staff retention.
Lakra and Jerry, the assistant director of nursing for infection prevention and control at Mater Misericordiae University Hospital in Dublin, were selected from 52,000 entries sent by 202 countries for the Aster Guardians Global NursingAward 2023, which carries a prize-money of more than Rs 2 crore. The finalists will be evaluated by a judging panel and the result declared at a ceremony in London on May 12, coinciding with International Nurses Day. As many as 13,156 nurses applied from India in the second edition of the award.
“My whole world belongs to the tribes-folk living in a very interior and isolated part of Andaman and Nicobar,” Lakra said. When the 2004 tsunami hit the island of the Onge tribe and drove them deep into the jungle, she made her home with them and lived in an open tent. She recalled assisting an Onge teenager deliver a premature baby weighing less than a kilo on the night of the tsunami. Lakra said if she wins the award, she will use the cash to create an NGO to provide healthcare to the endangered native islanders. Lakra, born in Rangat on Middle Andaman Island, also wants to fund Onge youngsters wishing to train as nurses.
Jerry, who moved to Dublin in 2006 after training as a nurse in Delhi’s Jamia Hamdard, was nominated for a robotic system she introduced in her Dublin hospital in March 2020. Inspired by the banking sector, it has drastically reduced the administrative work of nurses, eliminating human error, allowing nurses to spend more time with patients and improving job satisfaction and staff retention.
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