Nurses Need Care Too

With rising burnout and understaffing, Kashmiri nurses need more than just recognition.

- Sayima Wani

In the second year of my nursing studies in Kashmir, I already know what burnout looks like.

I've seen senior nurses work double shifts without complaint. I've watched them skip meals, hold back tears, and stay calm while managing chaos.

This is not just about professional commitment, it's survival in a broken system.

In hospitals across Kashmir, nurses are doing far more than what their job descriptions ask. They comfort patients whose families can't visit. They monitor oxygen levels, deliver medication, assist in surgeries, and often become the only source of emotional support for the sick.

But despite this critical role, we are undervalued, overworked, and, most of the time, invisible.

The staffing crisis in Jammu and Kashmir is no secret. More than 3,000 nursing posts have been vacant for years, according to the region's health department. The remaining workforce is stretched thin.

Many nurses are managing entire wards alone, sometimes looking after more than 40 patients during a single shift. That kind of load isn't just unsafe. It's inhumane.