Thirty-seven-year-old Mujo Trako is the Head Nurse at the Primary Health Care Center Vitez. He started his career at age of 23. He believes that being a healthcare provider is one of the most humane professions, and that is exactly why he chose this vocation. He holds that becoming a nurse helped him improve and become a better person.

What are the limitations and what he would change in the institution he works at... I believe that the issue today, as in all health institutions, is shortage of staff, I mean doctors, unacknowledged status, undervalued salary coefficient and low income compared to other professions. Also, health providers outflow to other countries in European Union where they are offered better
wages and working conditions.

I reckon that a health system and health insurance reforms need to be regulated by new laws and legal acts. Subsequently, a new healthcare development strategy that should meet the needs and requirements, possibilities and opportunities in providing healthcare, adjusted to the healthcare context, changes in the development of healthcare education and technology, should be endorsed. I also believe that it is necessary to strengthen primary health care through the rationalization of resources, changes in healthcare policy, partnership, unity and transparency of all procedures.

Position of healthcare providers in Bosnia and Herzegovina... Nurses’ position is difficult, and I believe that any nurse can confirm that. To begin with, health providers are not paid enough for the work they do and perform. There is also a lack of motivation among colleagues due to the excessive volume of work, and significant problems are temporary contracts, which often contribute to frustration. To be exact, one cannot plan a permanent place of residence, housing or starting a family.

Importance of nurse - doctor and nurse – patient rapport... Teamwork is essential for a success in any context. As they would say in sport: no training and teamwork no results. Teamwork means being honest, comprehensive, approachable, competent, flexible, and of course a good communication will yield good results. The strength of an organization is in good human resources management, and the strength of a team is in good arrangement, complete integration of all team members. In this case it implies nurses and patients, and nurses and doctors rapport.

How to prevent healthcare providers’ outflow from Bosnia and Herzegovina... To prevent healthcare providers’ outflow from
Bosnia and Herzegovina a crucial point would be, in the first place, to ensure more secure status of health providers, better system in the country, better income and working conditions and practice.

Importance of trainings for nurses... The trainings organized by Fami Foundation and the Federal Ministry of Health are of the better ones I have attended and I am enormously grateful for it. Thanks to these trainings we draw attention to the core of the problems in healthcare in Bosnia and Herzegovina, especially as nurses are placed at margins of the healthcare and society.

Communication in healthcare is my favorite topic and I think it should be the most important for all of us, because everything is based on communication, not only in healthcare but also in life. I underline that in fact Fami Foundation has shown that in our country it has a very important role in raising awareness - what is nurse’s role in healthcare system. I can proudly say that I am part of a successful team and together with Fami Foundation we are helping our healthcare institutions to work and function at an improved level, with an ultimate goal to provide better service to our end users - our patients.

Moments in my career that I will always remember... Well, there are many, but the events from 2019 and 2020 - time of COVID-19 pandemic first cross my mind, when we were a huge support to people and they to us.

A message to future generations that choose this profession... This job one has to love, live and do from the heart if this is one’s real and true choice in life. Of course, if you wish to do as many good and humane things as possible in life and wish to be a better person for the society, then healthcare profession is the right “door you wish to open”. I suggest that young people who wish to do this job spend at least a few days in one of the institutions they find interesting, talk to the staff there and not to listen to people who are not from that world. If they get that feeling in their heart, they will not have a dilemma what to choose and what to do in their life.