Liubovi Kishevskaia – nursing patients for 47 years

In all these years I have continued to study, I have attended training courses, I have built and led teams and I have worked with thousands of people”, recounts Liubovi Kishevskaia, Chief Nurse of the Mother and Child Healthcare Centre in Tiraspol.

Liubovi Chisevscaia has a wide smile, bright blue eyes and a particularly elegant way of holding her hands. She currently leads a team of several hundred nurses in the Mother and Child Healthcare Centre in Tiraspol, one of the biggest health institutions on the left bank of the Nistru River. Her day starts with morning rounds, because every patient is important. However, her administrative work and direct nursing responsibilities receive as much dedication as her visits to the wards and supervision of medical assistance for women, future mothers and newborns.   

“After graduating cum laude from Tiraspol Medical College, I was assigned to work at the Child Centre. Every Friday I went to the municipality to enquire about vacancies. There was a long waiting list of people looking for work in the ‘70s – over 300 people! I have never thought of being anything other than a nurse. My mother told me how caring I was with my peers, and I learnt to give injections when I was very young,” she laughs.

“I was eventually transferred to Maternity Hospital No.1 in Tiraspol. At that time I wanted to fulfil another dream – to become a surgical nurse. I kept my eyes open and so was among the first to enrol when specialized training courses were delivered in Chisinau. I worked in the Gynaecology Surgical Department for several years before I specialized in anaesthesiology and could finally work as a surgical nurse. It was my natural environment: the work was very difficult, so many surgeries during the night, but I was happy. I was visiting and monitoring the patients on the ward... Of course, eventually I regretted that I did not have higher education and so, in 1985, I enrolled in the Biochemistry Department of the T.G. Shevchenko University in Tiraspol. Studying alongside my work as Chief Midwife, this higher education provided me with a unique opportunity to teach nursing at the Medical College. This collaboration has been going for many years, and I am so proud of my students.

I was Chief Midwife until 1991; I am Chief Nurse now. Some people may think I’m too strict, but I like discipline and responsibility. Discipline is one of the keys to success. I learnt discipline when I was involved in athletics and participated in different republican and union competitions. Now, I swim and I urge everyone to follow a healthy lifestyle.

I love my job. I have dedicated myself to helping people – there is nothing more important than human health. The health needs of population have changed in last decades, and nurses have a big role to play in tackling health challenges and ensuring the continuity of care. What do I wish for after a 47-year career? To learn more and to implement modern and innovative standards and protocols in our institution. I would like to enrol for the second faculty, even in nursing. I believe that I can move mountains…”

A major event on nursing in Tiraspol

Liubovi Kishevskaia of one 50 participants at the workshop on management strategies in nursing, organized by WHO Regional Office for Europe and WHO Country Office in the Republic of Moldova that took place in Tiraspol on 21-22  September 2016.

For the first time in last 30 years, all main nurses from all medical sanitary institutions from the left bank of the Nistru River came together to learn about the WHO Regional Strategy on Strengthening Nursing and Midwifery along with nursing education, ethics, practice and standards from best-practices in European region. Interactive panel discussions and group work identified needs and priorities for further capacity building in the field of nursing care and practice. “I’m glad to be part of this event, there we are discussing the modern aspects of nursing care and perspectives of our profession”, said Liubovi Kishevskaia.

WHO support for this activity is included in the biennial collaborative agreement 2016–2017 between the Moldovan Ministry of Health and WHO Regional Office for Europe. The initiative is financially supported by WHO and the Support to Confidence Building Measures Programme funded by the European Union and coordinated by WHO, under technical assistance and capacity-building activities in the health sector.