Overcoming dangerous diseases, nurses in Ca Mau wholeheartedly for patients

Mr. Nguyen Duc Toan - Head Nurse of the General Internal Medicine Department, U Minh General Hospital (Ca Mau) - has more than 15 years of working in the health sector. In 2020, he contracted stage 3 rectal cancer; in 2024, he continued to suffer from a work accident with a disability rate of 41%, and his right eye vision was only 2/10. Overcoming the illness, he still took on his job, actively improving the quality of patient care and participating in trade union activities.

BS CKII Lam Huu Doan - Deputy Director, Chairman of the Trade Union of U Minh General Hospital - commented that Mr. Toan is honest, enthusiastic, and has many initiatives applied at the hospital. Despite experiencing illness and accidents, he still strives to overcome difficulties, not giving up to circumstances.

According to Mr. Doan, this is the first time the unit has a person honored as a typical example nationwide. The hospital collective and the Trade Union are very excited, and at the same time support a part of the funding for Mr. Toan to go to Hanoi.

At the General Internal Medicine Department, Mr. Toan and 9 nurses care for about 60 beds, exceeding 50% of the designed scale. Despite the large workload, he still proactively assigns, professionally checks, and guides practice, ensuring patient safety.

Not only completing his tasks, Mr. Toan also actively studied and improved his qualifications. In 2022, he graduated with a Bachelor of Nursing with honors; in 2024 completed the Hospital Management class; in 2025 completed the Nursing Management and Hospital Quality Management class.

From the reality of his work, he proposed many initiatives to improve the process and improve service quality. In 2023, he improved the capillary blood glucose testing process for patients. In 2024, he built an online suggestion box via QR code on the Zalo application, and at the same time improved the process of receiving and managing inpatients.

In 2025, he proposed many initiatives such as support pillows for turning and turning patients, improving cheat sheets, syringe boxes and aerosol spraying techniques, helping to reduce labor, save time, and improve the quality of care.

Notably, the revolving support pillow initiative helps shorten the care time each time from about 5-7 minutes to 2-3 minutes, supporting nurses and relatives in the process of caring for patients in need of help.

In addition to expertise, Mr. Toan participates in trade union work, inspecting and supervising the implementation of regulations and policies related to workers' rights; and actively mobilizing resources to support poor patients. He and the collective mobilized more than 108.3 million VND for social security activities, equipped a water purifier to serve patients and relatives free of charge, and donated hundreds of clean mats to inpatients.

During his work, he has been evaluated for many years as completing tasks well or better, including 4 years of excellent completion of tasks; 3 consecutive years of achieving the title of Grassroots Emulation Soldier in the 2023-2025 period. He was awarded a certificate of merit by the Ca Mau Department of Health to commend the typical advanced example of the health sector in 2025, and was awarded a certificate of merit by the Chairman of the Ca Mau Provincial People's Committee for his work achievements.

Workers do not necessarily have to be the strongest, but need to be people with bravery, responsibility and a compassionate heart" - Mr. Toan shared.

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