Nurse Dadan has dedicated himself to providing home-based care to children living with serious and life-limiting illnesses with Rachel House since 2014. Before joining Rachel House, 29-year-old Dadan worked as a nurse at one of the major hospitals in Tangerang, a satellite city of Jakarta. At the hospital he spent much of his time caring for the most critically-ill children.
But caring for these children in the hospital, often made him feel powerless; he wished he could do something more than just watch them live out their last days. When somebody told him about the work of Rachel House, he knew that finally this was the place where he could do something more.
Before starting at Rachel House, he thought the work wouldn’t be much different to what he had done in the hospital. But he quickly realized that the Rachel House approach was totally different. “Working in the hospital, providing medicine and giving treatment is the sole focus. But Rachel House follows the palliative care approach and —although medicine is still a big and important part of it—caring for patients, to manage a child’s symptoms, illness and pain and the almost important part yet often forgotten, the emotional, social, psychosocial and practical support for their caregivers in the best possible way is deemed as crucial as the medicine,” said nurse Dadan.
With a passionate commitment and dedication to his patients and their families, Dadan explained that developing a bond and trust with his patients and their family can sometimes be indescribably tough. “Like all the team at Rachel House – and palliative care people are around the world – I bring my worries and my work home,” says Nurse Dadan. “All of the team at Rachel House are in constant contact with the families – via WhatsApp or phone calls – at all times of the day, not just when we are at their homes. We are there helping the family when there are medical problems, or simply just being someone to talk to who understands their situation. This is a really important part of the job, but it can be very tough for the nurses. Sometimes I even can’t sleep for 2-3 days worrying about the patients,” said Dadan.
Dadan explained that he understands if patients choose to stop taking their medicines and live out their last months or days just like any other healthy person. “As long as they are comfortable and not in a lot of pain then it is their choice. It also acts as a reminder that sometimes there are things that we simply cannot change, no matter how much we would like to.”
Another challenge for Dadan was adapting to the fact that Rachel House visits patients in their homes across Jakarta, Bekasi, Depok and Tangerang. And that means battling Jakarta’s horrendous traffic. “Commuting was—and sometimes still is—something that is rather confusing and difficult,” he adds. “Whether I am on my motorbike, or taking a TransJakarta bus, it can sometimes take 2-3 hour to get to a single patient. But I know that it’s all worth it the minute I step in the door of the patient’s home and realize the difference that I can make.”
When asked why he became a nurse, Nurse Dadan explained that his parents told him, “When given a choice, be a source of good, for this world is not our permanent home.” So he chose health care. Working at Rachel House means that Dadan is a source of good for some of the most marginalised and in need children in the world. It’s a role he is proud to play, and we are proud to have him as part of the team.
As told to Cynthia Clara D. Law