By Liezel Longboan
A Filipino nursing manager in the National Health Service (NHS) was one of the 10 finalists of the first Aster Guardians Global Nursing Award held on 12 May on the occasion of International Nurses Day. Michael Francis Fernando was selected out of 24,000 applicants from 184 countries. He currently works as associate director for nursing at the North East London Foundation Trust.
Fernando was recognised for his efforts in founding Filipino Nurses Association UK and leading calls to protect Filipino nurses at the height of the Covid 19 pandemic in the UK. While Filipinos make up the third largest ethnic group in the NHS, they had the highest number of Covid deaths. He also advocated for greater representation of Filipino nurses in the NHS through the Senior Filipino Nurses Alliance.
Although he did not win the top prize, Fernando thanked supporters who sent messages on Twitter.
The prestigious award went to Anna Qabale Duba from Kenya who received $250,000 prize money. The only educated girl past primary school in her family, she started a foundation and advocated for reproductive health and rights. Through her efforts, incidence of female genital mutilation and early marriage went down in her community.
Meanwhile, Filipino nurses in the UK have been on Twitter and Facebook to celebrate International Nurses Day. With an estimated 40,000 Filipino nurses working in the NHS alone, they make up the largest sector within the Filipino community in the UK.
Louie Horne, of the NHS Workforce Race Equality Standard (WRES) team, hosted an online event giving international nurses their chance to tell their stories. One of the speakers was Paul Jared de Jesus, clinical educator at University Hospitals Birmingham Trust.
Officers of the Philippine Nurses Association as well as other Filipino nurses attended the Florence Nightingale Commemoration Service at Westminster Abbey in London to represent their organisations and trusts. The service is held annually to celebrate nursing, midwifery and everyone working in these professions.
Nightingale was a British nurse and social reformer and recognised as the founder of modern nursing.
At the Luton and Dunstable University Hospital, some members of the Philippine Nurses Association (PNA) UK performed a Filipino folk dance on the occasion of International Nurses Day.
