Sister Delosi a lamp shining in cancer unit

By JINA AMBA
WORKING in the Cancer Unit of the Port Moresby General Hospital is not every nurse’s first choice because of the misconception that the risk of contracting cancer there is high.
But Sister Delosi Eawetau has spent 13 years of her 24-year career as a nurse at the cancer unit, and is the nurse in charge there today.
“To work in the cancer unit, you have to be a trained and certified as an oncology nurse because we deal every day with handling chemotherapy drugs.
“The chemo drugs are very toxic. That’s why they want us to get trained first on how to handle the drugs, how to mix those drugs and to know the waste disposal system. If there is a spill, we must know how to clean it.”
Sister Delosi is from Alotau in Milne Bay. She is the fifth eldest in a family of eight. One of them has died leaving seven surviving siblings.
Her partner is from Madang. They have two children – a son, 15, in Grade Nine at the De La Selle and a daughter, 20, who is upgrading her marks at the University of PNG Open Campus.
Sister Delosi has spent 24 years at the country’s biggest hospital since becoming a nurse, with 13 of those years at the cancer unit. She is now the Unit Manager at the Cancer Clinic.

“ I worked alone for the whole year at the cancer unit. I thank the good Lord that I did not face any problems. I used to treat eight to 12 patients a day. I was the only nursing sister (assisted by) two community health workers.”

She had attended the Wagawaga Primary School in Milne Bay, completing Grade One to Grade Six. She continued on to Cameron High School where she went through Grade Seven to Grade 10.
Then she received training at the Vunapope School of Nursing where she spent three and a half years to qualify as a registered nurse. She started working at the Port Moresby General Hospital in 1997.
The biggest challenge is the lack of manpower as nurses are reluctant to work at the cancer unit because of the exposure to toxics.
“I have been asking the bosses to bring in more staff but nobody wants to come and work here because they think that if they are exposed for too long, they are going to get cancer. They fear that they will be unable to have children. These are some fears nurses have.”
When she joined the cancer unit in 2010, she had to work alone there for a year when the sister-in-charge left for studies.
“I worked alone for the whole year at the cancer unit. I thank the good Lord that I did not face any problems. I used to treat eight to 12 patients a day. I was the only nursing sister (assisted by) two community health workers.”
Apart from her initial training at Vunapope, Sister Delosi has not attended any other formal training as such. But she upgrades her skills and knowledge through reading.
“I read and read.”
She believes that nursing is God’s calling for her – to look after the sick and help them get better. So she works without complaining.
“Right now we have six nurses and two community health workers. That’s the first time. (At least) I am relieved from work pressure.”
For Sister Delosi, the words of the founder of modern nursing, Florence Nightingale, also known as the Lady with the Lamp, still ring true today: “How very little can be done under the spirit of fear!”