Dheeraj rose from being a nursing staff to the role of ward in-charge in a hospital amidst various challenges. During the COVID-19 pandemic he had to manage a team of 50 nurses while supporting his wife's pregnancy and fight tough situations.

Dheeraj Kumar Sharma has been working as a ward in-charge at the GBH American Hospital in Udaipur since 2016.

Dheeraj aspires to qualify in the AIIMS exam in the next 5 years. He has been consistently trying to do the same but has failed in a few attempts. He also aspires to do his current job with the utmost honesty and hard work.

He recalls the case of a patient who came from Ahmedabad for treatment in their hospital. This patient had very low chances of survival. His case was very critical, and he and the HOD Dr. Vijay Ajmera tried very hard and, after seven days, they could save the patient successfully. This was a great achievement for them.

Dheeraj recalls another serious medical condition of a COVID patient with very low chances of survival. After 56 days, the patient successfully recovered and was discharged. Dheeraj talks about how his team and the doctors brought him back to life and good health. He is proud to be part of a profession where he can help others. He also adds that the pandemic period was a very trying but satisfying time when they served their best to their patients, and the patient recovery ratio was also very good.

Sharing his thoughts on leadership, Dheeraj adds that he does not believe in working as a leader but as a team worker. No matter whoever the staff member is and whatever the problem is, he always works with them shoulder to shoulder. He adds that every leader is a team worker first, and we should never shy away from small or big tasks.

Dheeraj shares that he came to Udaipur in 2016 to visit his elder brother's house. It was the same time when he had completed his nursing course and was actively looking for a job. He decided to give an interview at GBH American Hospital, and thus got selected.

He started working in this hospital as a nursing staffer. Dheeraj shares that in December 2019, he was down with viral fever. He decided to take some rest and went back to his hometown. After a few days, he received a call that he had been promoted from nursing staff to ward in-charge there. He was shifted to a 50-bed ward, which was a great opportunity for him.

Talking about challenges, Dheeraj mentions that during COVID-19, it became very challenging for him. He was working day in and day out, taking the best possible care of the patients. During that time, he was leading a team of 50 nurses under him, which was also a learning opportunity for him. He had to manage the staff, divide the work, deal with the heavy number of patients, and keep the staff motivated as well.

Those challenges became manifold when his wife became pregnant. Dheeraj shares that during that time, he could not back out of the job due to the ongoing pandemic but had to be very careful to take care of his wife too.

Offering a piece of advice to those looking to make a career in this field, Dheeraj advises aspiring nurses and doctors to choose their subjects wisely in school. Aspirants must choose science and biology subjects compulsorily in their 12th grade. After 12th grade, they can choose the BSC Nursing Degree course, which has a duration of 4 years.

Students from other educational backgrounds can also choose the General Nursing and Midwifery (GNM) course, a 3-year course in this field. Students can also pursue further studies like BSc and MSc degrees after taking the GNM course. After choosing this field, one can either become an educator in a college or take a job as a nursing staff member in a hospital. He also adds that anybody taking a job in this field must be 100% dedicated and have a sense of social service as a devout nurse.

When asked to compare education and experience, Dheeraj says that education builds our concepts, whereas experience starts to matter once our education is over. Experience helps us to work practically on the concepts we have learned. Thus, in his field, education and experience are both equally important.

Talking about his role models, Dheeraj mentions that his clinical instructor, Dr. Ravi Sharma, inspires him the most. When he took admission in the nursing course in 2011, Dr. Sharma motivated him a lot, did experiments with him and taught him a lot. Besides, during his internship in 2015, Dr. Ashish Sharma helped him a lot and taught him to work with utmost honesty.

The line that motivates Dheeraj comes from the Bhagavad Gita, which reads, “Ye samay bhi nikal jayega.” He shares that during COVID times, these lines helped him cope with the difficult situations.