(VOVworld) – Nurse Nguyen Thi Xuan has devoted nearly 30 years to providing care and treatment to leprosy patients at the Bac Ninh Leprosy and Dermatology Hospital, formerly Qua Cam Leprosy Clinic. Xuan has been honored as a shining example in following the moral example of President Ho Chi Minh.

Nguyen Thi Xuan makes prosthetic limbs for her patients at Bac Ninh Leprosy and Dermatology Hospital (Photo: tuoitrenews.vn)

The idea of taking care of leprosy patients came to Ms. Nguyen Thi Xuan as she read a book about the miserable lives of lepers. Her heart ached as she thought about the physical pain and mental agony the patients had to suffer. Xuan then visited the leprosy patients at the Qua Cam Leprosy Clinic in Bac Ninh province to see first-hand the lives of lepers. Since then, she has been caring for the patients, cleaning them, changing their dressings, and feeding them. She does everything with her whole heart. After a period of volunteering at the clinic, she attended a nursing class to learn professional caretaking skills. The patients consider nurse Xuan their close friend. Apart from care and treatment, nurse Xuan shared the patients’ happiness and sorrow. Ms. Xuan told us: “I’m so happy and I consider the patients my closed friends. I always bear in mind President Ho Chi Minh’s teaching that “a good doctor is like an affectionate mother”. I look after the patients as if they were my closest kin”.

Ms. Xuan also took a course on making prosthetic limbs for lepers. At first, she had difficulty in making the artificial body parts, but with knowledge gained from the course, she succeeded in producing prosthetic limbs which now help her patients move around more comfortably. Luong Trung Hau, Director of the Bac Ninh Leprosy and Dermatology Hospital, said: “Many patients whose limbs were amputated have great difficulty. They need devoted and kind people to help them. We are really proud to have a devoted nurse like Ms. Xuan”.

When Xuan reached retirement age in 2012, she insisted on staying at the clinic and continuing to tend to her beloved patients: “My only aspiration is to continue helping the lepers. If I retire, who will make the artificial limbs and slippers for the patients’ deformed feet”.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Xuan’s big heart has had a positive effect on other doctors and nurses at the center. Ho Ngoc Thu, a student at Hanoi Medical University, who did volunteer work at the Bac Ninh Leprosy and Dermatology Hospital, still remembers the big-hearted nurse: “I really admire Ms. Xuan and what she has done. She is a great example for us in our career as a doctor. I always bear in mind the importance of devotion and treating the patients with all my heart”.

For Ms. Xuan, looking after and sharing with the patients is her greatest happiness. She always feels happy when talking about her patients: “Despite all the hard work, I always feel happy when I’m taking care of the patients”.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Xuan still drives her motorbike to outlying provinces and cities to provide treatment to lepers, and solicit donations to support poor patients.