LAHORE: Nursing College of Lahore General Hospital Principal Razia Bano and Chief Nursing Superintendent Services Hospital Samina Yasmin have said that health sector cannot perform effectively without profound role of nurses especially in the 21st century. A disease free world is only possible with a vibrant and a leadership role of nurses as they know more than all the health force about the chronic issues of health sector. Nurses deserve to be given share in decision making about healthcare programmes. They also need facilities; security and better service structure as they serve the ailing humanity at the helm of affairs. Samina Yasmin and LGH Nursing College Principal Razia Bano expressed these views in connection with World Nursing Day. They said that the noble profession of nursing was a ray of hope and a source of recovery for patients suffering from various ailments, adding that patients express even more confidence on nurses than doctors in hospital wards. “Many more steps and initiatives are needed for the promotion of nursing in Pakistan,” they maintained. They also said that the role of nurses in healthcare system has been recognised throughout the world and it is estimated that more 9 million nurses and midwives would be required in future by 2030. Speaking on the occasion, Deputy Nursing Superintendent LGH Ruqaiya Bano said that nurses are Allah’s blessing for the ailing humanity and they work shoulder to shoulder with male companions to save human lives. She applauded Punjab government for recruiting nurses through Punjab Public Service Commission for the first time to uphold merit and transparency. The Punjab government has also regularised nurses working on contract basis but the government should also regularise those experienced nurses presently working with Board of Management, she stressed. Nurses Kishwar Siddique, Asna Mubashra, Sadaf Mushtaq, Naveeda Hameed, Sumera Razaq, Farzana Shaheen, Asma Abid, Sana Shahzadi, Maria Ali, Iram Tasneem and others said on this occasion that the number of nurses must be increased in accordance with rapidly raising the number of patients in hospitals. They also emphasised that nurses who have done their specialisations should be posted in the relevant departments so as to get better results. The nurses demanded that residential facilities in the nurses’ hostels and other basic amenities should be improved for the betterment of nurse community. Published in Daily Times, May 12th 2018.