Health and Me

Dr. Annu Kaushik

The Lamp Still Burns: A Note to India’s Young Nurses on Nurses Day 2026

If you have ever attended a nursing pinning ceremony in India, you know the moment. The lights dim. Young women carrying small brass lamps walk in, their faces glowing softly as they recite the Nightingale Pledge. Somewhere in the audience, a mother wipes her eyes because her daughter has become the first nurse in their family. The lamp is small. The promise it carries is enormous.

I have stood in many such auditoriums. Today, as a Director of Nursing, I stand among the senior nurses watching the next generation arrive. And I want to tell the young nurse holding that lamp something I wish someone had told me years ago: the profession you are entering is not the same profession your seniors entered. It is wider, brighter, and finally beginning to make room for you.

This year’s International Council of Nurses theme, “Our Nurses. Our Future. Empowered Nurses Save Lives,” feels written for that young woman holding the lamp. It says clearly that the future of healthcare belongs to her.

To understand that future, we must first look at the women who carried the profession before her.

I think of Annie. She trained in Kerala thirty years ago, moved north for her first posting, and never left. She has helped deliver more than two thousand babies in labor rooms that are often crowded, short-staffed, and always full of hope and fear. She does the things doctors rarely have time for. She teaches first-time mothers how to latch a baby, reassures anxious fathers, and explains kangaroo mother care to grandmothers who understand it instinctively the moment skin meets skin.

“When a baby is born,” Annie says, “a mother is born too. Sometimes she needs more help learning to be a mother than the baby needs learning to be a baby. That teaching is also nursing.”

I think of Sunita, who leads a Delhi ICU. During the second COVID wave, she lost a colleague to the virus and returned to duty the next morning. “I cried in the changing room, then I washed my face, then I went back. That is nursing.”

That is also leadership in its rawest form — the kind young nurses inherit not in classrooms, but in hospital corridors at 3 a.m.

What Annie and Sunita share is something quietly extraordinary: they teach. Ask any Indian family about the first hours of their child’s life, and they may remember the doctor briefly, but they will remember the nurse for much longer. It is the nurse who places the baby on the mother’s chest during the golden hour. The nurse who teaches breastfeeding explains danger signs before discharge, and shows trembling parents how to hold or bathe a newborn safely.

This is parent education in its purest form, and in India, it is overwhelmingly delivered by nurses. Florence Nightingale once called maternal nursing the most consequential nursing of all. More than a century later, she is still right.

And here is what is changing for today’s young nurses.

The corporate healthcare sector in India is finally building career pathways that reflect what nurses have always contributed. Roles like Nurse Practitioner in Obstetrics, Nurse Practitioner in Neonatology, certified lactation consultants, childbirth educators, fetal medicine nurses, IVF nurse coordinators, and clinical nurse specialists are no longer distant Western concepts. These opportunities now exist in Indian maternity and child healthcare, and they will increasingly be led by your generation.

The doors do not stop there. There are paths from bedside nursing to leadership roles such as charge nurse, unit manager, Assistant Director, and Director of Nursing. There are opportunities in clinical education, quality and patient safety, infection control, simulation training, research, accreditation, and hospital operations. Nurses who once knew only the hospital floor are now helping shape decisions in boardrooms.

This is what an empowered profession looks like — not a parallel system, but a real ladder built inside the very institutions where nurses dedicate their lives.

Nursing is finally being recognized as a clinical profession in its own right. Virginia Henderson described the nurse as “the consciousness of the unconscious, the eyes of the blind, the support of the weak.” Today, workplaces are slowly beginning to match that reality with better staffing norms, stronger security measures, and greater respect for nursing leadership. Progress may not be perfect, but the direction is right.

For perhaps the first time in Indian corporate healthcare, nursing is being seen not as a cost to minimize, but as a profession worth investing in. You are entering nursing at a moment when the profession itself is being rebuilt.

So, to the young nurse holding the lamp tonight: there will come a night when you are exhausted. The shift will have been long. A patient or relative may have spoken harshly. You will sit quietly in the changing room and wonder, for one honest moment, why you chose this profession. In that moment, remember this.

You chose the profession that places a newborn, still warm from birth, onto the chest of the woman who carried her. You chose the profession that teaches a young father, hands shaking with joy and fear, how to hold his baby safely for the first time. You chose the profession that sits beside the dying when even families cannot bear the pain. You chose the profession that quietly keeps hospitals alive through the night.

Mother Teresa once said, “Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love.” Nurses do small things with great love every single day. But they also do great things, most of them unseen.

You will notice a newborn’s fever before anyone else does. You will recognize the silence of a struggling mother before it becomes dangerous. You will be the reason a patient survives, heals, or feels less afraid. None of this may appear on a discharge summary. But somewhere, in a family’s prayers, your care will remain unforgettable long after your name is forgotten.

And remember the mother from the beginning of this piece — the one wiping tears as her daughter walks in carrying a brass lamp. She represents every mother in India. She is the mother Annie reassured thousands of times. She is the mother Sunita prayed for during the pandemic.

And one day, she will sit in another auditorium watching another young nurse step forward to receive her lamp.

Because here is the detail most people miss about the lamp-lighting ceremony: no nurse lights her own lamp. A senior nurse lights it first, and from that flame every junior lamp begins to glow. Nursing is a profession that passes its light forward. Annie lit Sunita. Sunita will light you. And one day, another young nurse will look to you for light.

The lamp is still burning. It has burned through wars, pandemics, and generations of women whose work was too often overlooked. It is now in your hands. Carry it gently. Carry it proudly. Carry it far. And when your hands grow tired, do not let it go out.

Health Conditions A-Z

health

Nurses Day 2026

florence nightingale

nurses

nurse practitioner

international council of nurses

healthcare workers

the-lamp-still-burns-a-note-to-indias-young-nurses-on-nurses-day-2026

donald-trump-will-have-fourth-medical-checkup-in-may-says-white-house

Donald Trump Will Have Fourth Medical Checkup In May, Says White House

air-conditioning

Office AC Freezing You? Be Warned, It Could Give You High BP

Health & Wellness

8 Sit-Up Variations to Strengthen Your Core and Build Stability

Benefits Of Ayurvedic Health Supplement Ashwagandha

9 Anti-Inflammatory Breakfast Options You Should Try

5 Foods You Should Avoid For PCOS, Says Gynecologist

Love Sitting With Your Legs Crossed? Here’s You Should Avoid It

6 Daily Foods That Are Secretly Increasing Your Calories

9 Brain Boosters You Should Do Everyday

Hip Exercises That Will Keep You Flexible As You Age

9 Leg Exercises Office Workers’ Should Do At Home

Benefits of Having Herbal Tea Every Morning

9 Daily Habits That Boost Your Brain Power

Lower-Body Exercises That Are Game-Changers

How Drinking Apple Cider Vinegar Helps You

Aging Myths You Should Never Believe

Superfoods That Support Your Gut Health

What Happens To Your Body When You Eat Instant Noodles Every Day?

Health Issues Premature Babies Often Face

Exercises Office Workers Should Do For Their Heart Health

Reasons Why You Should Add Raw Turmeric To Your Diet

Benefits Of Drinking Milk At Night: Why You Should Do It

Food That Provides Vitamin B12 Naturally In Your Diet

Surprising Health Benefits Of Fenugreek Seeds

9 Superfoods You Should Eat For Your Brain Health

What Does Mental Health Support Look Like At Work?

Long Stretches You Should Do To Unwind From Your Day

Colon Cancer In Young Adults: Early Symptoms You Should Know

Health Benefits Of Eating Dry Fruits Everyday

Are You At Risk For Fried Rice Syndrome?

These Tests Reveal How Well You Are Aging

Lower-Back Exercises You Should Do After A Long-Day's Work

Children’s Diet – What Kids Need To Eat For Immunity Building

Common Diabetes Myths That Could Hurt Your Health

Love Spicy Food? Here’s How It Affects Your Health

Superfood List: Veggies And Fruits You Must Have For Immunity

Foods People With IBS Should Avoid

Exercises To Improve Digestion

Easy Work Lunches You Can Make In The Morning

Hunger Vs Craving: Difference Explained In 60 seconds

These Things Can Cause Your Heart To Age Faster

High Carb Foods That Are Actually Healthy

If you have ever attended a nursing pinning ceremony in India, you know the moment. The lights dim. Young women carrying small brass lamps walk in, their faces glowing softly as they recite the Nightingale Pledge. Somewhere in the audience, a mother wipes her eyes because her daughter has become the first nurse in their family. The lamp is small. The promise it carries is enormous.I have stood in many such auditoriums. Today, as a Director of Nursing, I stand among the senior nurses watching the next generation arrive. And I want to tell the young nurse holding that lamp something I wish someone had told me years ago: the profession you are entering is not the same profession your seniors entered. It is wider, brighter, and finally beginning to make room for you.This year’s International Council of Nurses theme, “Our Nurses. Our Future. Empowered Nurses Save Lives,” feels written for that young woman holding the lamp. It says clearly that the future of healthcare belongs to her.To understand that future, we must first look at the women who carried the profession before her.I think of Annie. She trained in Kerala thirty years ago, moved north for her first posting, and never left. She has helped deliver more than two thousand babies in labor rooms that are often crowded, short-staffed, and always full of hope and fear. She does the things doctors rarely have time for. She teaches first-time mothers how to latch a baby, reassures anxious fathers, and explains kangaroo mother care to grandmothers who understand it instinctively the moment skin meets skin.“When a baby is born,” Annie says, “a mother is born too. Sometimes she needs more help learning to be a mother than the baby needs learning to be a baby. That teaching is also nursing.”I think of Sunita, who leads a Delhi ICU. During the second COVID wave, she lost a colleague to the virus and returned to duty the next morning. “I cried in the changing room, then I washed my face, then I went back. That is nursing.”That is also leadership in its rawest form — the kind young nurses inherit not in classrooms, but in hospital corridors at 3 a.m.What Annie and Sunita share is something quietly extraordinary: they teach. Ask any Indian family about the first hours of their child’s life, and they may remember the doctor briefly, but they will remember the nurse for much longer. It is the nurse who places the baby on the mother’s chest during the golden hour. The nurse who teaches breastfeeding explains danger signs before discharge, and shows trembling parents how to hold or bathe a newborn safely.This is parent education in its purest form, and in India, it is overwhelmingly delivered by nurses. Florence Nightingale once called maternal nursing the most consequential nursing of all. More than a century later, she is still right.And here is what is changing for today’s young nurses.The corporate healthcare sector in India is finally building career pathways that reflect what nurses have always contributed. Roles like Nurse Practitioner in Obstetrics, Nurse Practitioner in Neonatology, certified lactation consultants, childbirth educators, fetal medicine nurses, IVF nurse coordinators, and clinical nurse specialists are no longer distant Western concepts. These opportunities now exist in Indian maternity and child healthcare, and they will increasingly be led by your generation.The doors do not stop there. There are paths from bedside nursing to leadership roles such as charge nurse, unit manager, Assistant Director, and Director of Nursing. There are opportunities in clinical education, quality and patient safety, infection control, simulation training, research, accreditation, and hospital operations. Nurses who once knew only the hospital floor are now helping shape decisions in boardrooms.This is what an empowered profession looks like — not a parallel system, but a real ladder built inside the very institutions where nurses dedicate their lives.Nursing is finally being recognized as a clinical profession in its own right. Virginia Henderson described the nurse as “the consciousness of the unconscious, the eyes of the blind, the support of the weak.” Today, workplaces are slowly beginning to match that reality with better staffing norms, stronger security measures, and greater respect for nursing leadership. Progress may not be perfect, but the direction is right.For perhaps the first time in Indian corporate healthcare, nursing is being seen not as a cost to minimize, but as a profession worth investing in. You are entering nursing at a moment when the profession itself is being rebuilt.So, to the young nurse holding the lamp tonight: there will come a night when you are exhausted. The shift will have been long. A patient or relative may have spoken harshly. You will sit quietly in the changing room and wonder, for one honest moment, why you chose this profession. In that moment, remember this.You chose the profession that places a newborn, still warm from birth, onto the chest of the woman who carried her. You chose the profession that teaches a young father, hands shaking with joy and fear, how to hold his baby safely for the first time. You chose the profession that sits beside the dying when even families cannot bear the pain. You chose the profession that quietly keeps hospitals alive through the night.Mother Teresa once said, “Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love.” Nurses do small things with great love every single day. But they also do great things, most of them unseen.You will notice a newborn’s fever before anyone else does. You will recognize the silence of a struggling mother before it becomes dangerous. You will be the reason a patient survives, heals, or feels less afraid. None of this may appear on a discharge summary. But somewhere, in a family’s prayers, your care will remain unforgettable long after your name is forgotten.And remember the mother from the beginning of this piece — the one wiping tears as her daughter walks in carrying a brass lamp. She represents every mother in India. She is the mother Annie reassured thousands of times. She is the mother Sunita prayed for during the pandemic.And one day, she will sit in another auditorium watching another young nurse step forward to receive her lamp.Because here is the detail most people miss about the lamp-lighting ceremony: no nurse lights her own lamp. A senior nurse lights it first, and from that flame every junior lamp begins to glow. Nursing is a profession that passes its light forward. Annie lit Sunita. Sunita will light you. And one day, another young nurse will look to you for light.When that moment comes, lean forward.The lamp is still burning. It has burned through wars, pandemics, and generations of women whose work was too often overlooked. It is now in your hands. Carry it gently. Carry it proudly. Carry it far. And when your hands grow tired, do not let it go out.

the lamp still burns: a note to india’s young nurses on nurses day 2026

About Us

Contact Us

Terms & Conditions

Privacy Policy

Company

Health and Me is a premium website with content written and curated to function as a handbook for all Health concerns.

The Lamp Still Burns: A Note to India’s Young Nurses on Nurses Day 2026

Office AC Freezing You? Be Warned, It Could Give You High BP

Tingling Or Numbness In The Hands And Feet: Understanding The Role Of Vitamin B In Nerve Health

Chocolates, Snack Mixes Recalled In US Over Risk Of Salmonella Contamination

Health Conditions A-Z

The Lamp Still Burns: A Note to India’s Young Nurses on Nurses Day 2026

Donald Trump Will Have Fourth Medical Checkup In May, Says White House

Office AC Freezing You? Be Warned, It Could Give You High BP