Nihada Kulovac holds a master's degree in nursing care and therapy. She currently holds a position of Head Nurse at the Primary Health Care Center Vogosca.

The beginning of my professional career and motivation...  My first work experience was at the age of 26. In the roots of society, that is, in my family, I learned to be a human, to have empathy, to help others and to always treat others the way I would like to be treated. All of the above qualities are very important and indispensable in the most humane and beautiful profession - the nursing. As a 14-year-old girl, I was not really aware of the difficulty and challenges that this profession brings along. I wanted to be a hero in white and help, and at that age I had a vision that every health professional’s assistance is successful. Life and practice have taught me that this profession has many responsibilities, obligations, both physical and psychological burdens, sometimes unwanted results, but also many more beautiful situations.

What does a typical workday look like for you?  When you are the Head Nurse and want to contribute to the institution you work at, the days are completely different one from another. With my team, I work to improve our employees’ working conditions, as we want to achieve greater employee satisfaction, leading subsequently to provision of a better quality service to our citizens, whom we are here for. I continuously conduct internal inspections to improve the work in our health institution, eliminate shortcomings, if any, and compliment on progress made. Cooperation within the entire organizational unit is extremely important to secure correct and timely information flow.

What is it like to be a nurse in Bosnia and Herzegovina?  Being a nurse here or anywhere else in the world carries a burden of responsibility that nurses are aware of through practice. It is very important to be appreciated as an indispensable part of the team, which is sometimes missing in certain segments, causing dissatisfaction. We all need to work on that, because only teamwork yields results. An aggravating circumstance is that in our profession, if one of us ends up on a sick leave, maternity leave, etc., there is usually no replacement and the remaining staff takes over all the tasks. Interestingly, nurses always complete all the tasks and do not leave the patient without a service provided; however, we are aware of the consequences. All this underlines the fact that communication is a very important topic and deserves attention; increasing the number of nurses to reduce the workload so that we can keep them for long as high quality and satisfied employees. Working conditions are very important segment.

What are the shortcomings of the Institution you work at? What would you change?  The fact that most often there is no replacement when one of us goes on a longer sick leave, maternity leave etc. is our greatest problem, because the rest of the team assumes all obligations, responsibilities and work, which we never know how much will be in one working day. Working conditions can always be better, and are working on improvement continuously. This that I pointed out as a disadvantage is something that I would like change, but there are many more advantages at the institution I work at and we have been working to solve most of the mentioned issues.

Pros and cons of the nursing profession...  There is a thin line between the two. Our mistakes can lead to a loss of human life and human life is irreplaceable. During childbirth you welcome a new life into your arms and in a split of a second there can be a complication and the most beautiful in our profession becomes the opposite. But, unlike many professions, ours gives us the opportunity to make a good deed every day, to be at disposal to those who need help and thus our job turns into love. We do not just do our work, we live it. Imagine what it is like having always in front of you someone who needs support. If you love your job, you do your best and in such a way that you would like someone to do for you. This job carries a certain psycho-physical burden that we ourselves have chosen to carry; therefore we have to create protection mechanisms for the sake of our own health, but we don't always succeed to. The downsides of our profession are poor human resources, working conditions, equipment, communication and mutual respect among all team members.

The importance of nurse-patient and nurse-doctor relationships?  In the healthcare system, this segment is one of the most important ones. It is a kind of a chain, where all the links must always be interconnected. That strengthens the trust within the team, but also the trust of the patients by making them feel very important. When they sense the mutual respect among the team, good communication, good feedback, they trust the healthcare system and the course of treatment. It is extremely important to hear and not just listen to what a team member is saying, because to correctly understand is of particular importance for further course of decision-making. As it was said long ago, a man was executed because of a comma ("Kill, not pardon"....and the notes should have read "Kill not, pardon"). In our profession, these commas and the psycho-physical state of healthcare professionals must be in harmony in order to properly hear a team member, a patient or a family and take appropriate action.

Work and conditions during the coronavirus pandemic?  The hardest fight is the fight with an invisible enemy. At the very beginning, without the necessary personal protective equipment, without prior knowledge about this and understaffed, we entered the fight. And here we have shown that there is no artificial intelligence or anything that can replace our presence. Many professions have practiced “work from home", while we practiced "absence from home". Overnight, we have once again shown our strength - faced the coronavirus and together with patients fought against it. We, I would say, had to learn along the way because everything was new. We worked to maintain the psychological stability of patients, even when the situation was very alarming. We had to work for days to reorganize equipment, staff, and space. There were also unwanted outcomes, but at no point did we withdraw from the fight. We continued to fight, over and over again. Our families suffered, watching the news on the TV and that didn't feel good. But watching live "scenarios" is even worse.

You are the President of the Nurse Association in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, how important is the association for nurses?  The Nurse Association in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina is very important for our profession. Through it, I wish us to strengthen and emphasize the importance and indispensability of our profession. Jointly, we can show our strength. We work on continuous professional development and empowerment by signing cooperation agreements with relevant organizations in the same or similar spheres of interest. In the media, through our activities, we emphasize the importance of nurses.

The role of Fami Foundation for nursing in Bosnia and Herzegovina?  Fami Foundation is one of the non-governmental organizations that has greatly been contributing to the strengthening of the nursing profession. Through the Strengthening Nursing in BiH project, it has been working hard for many years to analyze nurses’ situation and needs, all in coordination with the Federal Ministry of Health. The best suited professionals in the field of health are then selected to to carry out specific required activities. Some of the activities are related to the educational system in our profession, others are related to the Chamber and the Association. However, most important is the support Fami Foundation has been providing to nurse practitioners, with a focus on community nurses. Standard operating procedures are of great importance in practice, and they have been implemented with the support of Fami Foundation. A lot is invested in workshops, working groups, and trainings closely related to certain important areas of healthcare. It is important to emphasize the support for nurses’ participation in symposia, congresses, and the like.

An event from your career that you will always remember... Every patient who, due to a sudden acute condition or a serious chronic condition, cannot get to a health facility is immensely grateful, regardless of the fact that it is our duty, when we come to their homes, provide health care service and help them be able to do regular activities again. During seven years of my field work, there have been countless such situations. Despite the pain and a serious health condition, with our approach, support and work we bring a smile to the patient's face and alleviate difficult situations in patient’s life. One of the most difficult things was when a father, mother and their son all lost their fight for life in the course of seven days during the Covid pandemic. There have been numerous situations in which my colleagues and I provided nursing care with a gentle smile and a lot of empathy, talking to patients, but when leaving the house, we shed tears, being unable to speak.

Your message to future generations...  Regardless of all the shortcomings, difficulties and responsibilities that come with this job, this profession is irreplaceable, the most beautiful and the most humane. To be a high quality healthcare professional, you must be ready to face all the challenges and make sacrifice, to undertake lifelong learning, and throughout your working life build up your psycho-physical strength, have empathy, and be ready to look at people knowing that each person has someone who cares for him/her. It's not difficult, if within you, you have enough love for people.