When I asked my high-school age daughter who is busy preparing for a university admission exam if she wanted to go to nursing school, her answer pretty much summed up why our country is suffering a drastic shortage of nurses.
"No way. Laborious work. Low pay. Little recognition. And you have to take the doctors' orders and feel inferior to them all the time. No, not for me."
She is not alone in refusing to follow the selfless path of the Lady of the Lamp. And that's why the country's severe shortage of nurses is worsening by the day.
The problem is not just a lacklustre image. It's the problem of the harsh reality that some 110,000 nurses are facing day in and day out with no effort by the state to improve their work conditions and remuneration.
It's why thousands of nurses took to the streets last month. They've promised to do it again and even quit working for state hospitals if nothing is done.
For them, the problem is not only hard work and low pay, but also double standards.
How would you feel if you did exactly the same hard work as other nurses in the same crowded hospital but got much lower pay and no welfare protection because you are a "temporary employee", not a government official like your peers?
This is the plight of some 12,000 nurses in state hospitals nationwide.
This system of double standards began about a decade ago when the government started downsizing the bureaucracy. In public health care, this downsizing amid soaring demand has resulted in a back-breaking workload for the already overworked nurses.
When state hospitals are no longer allowed to recruit new resident nurses, they solve the problem by hiring "temporary employees" who, by law, are not entitled to pay and welfare protection equal to those of government officials. They are also denied promotions. In short, they're stuck in a deep rut.
Actually, this is not only the predicament of nurses. There are some 400,000 temporary employees at other state agencies nationwide in the same dire straits. A few years ago, a young man killed himself to highlight the cause of temporary employees, hoping his death would prompt the government to redress the unfairness.
Nothing happened. Which is why nurses are taking to the streets.
Their unbearable workload is reflected in the appalling ratio of nurses per capita in Thailand. In the US and Japan, the ratio is 1:200. In Singapore, it's 1:250. In Malaysia, it's 1:300. In Thailand, it's 1:700.
According to health researcher Krisada Sawaengdee, the healthcare system is short of 30,000 nurses, which seriously affects healthcare quality. Some hospitals have reportedly had to close down wards because of this shortage. And the rural poor bear the brunt much more than city dwellers.
According to the National Nurses Council, the ratio of nurses per capita in Bangkok is 1:285. It's 1:562 in the Central Plains, 1:621 in the North, 1:622 in the South, and 1:968 in the Northeast.
While the universal healthcare policy has won praise nationwide, the subsequent increase in patients has put much stress and strain on the health system. With an overwhelming workload, low pay, and no security, it's not surprising that many nurses leave to work for private hospitals. And given the government's policy drive to make Thailand an international medical hub, this braindrain problem is set to become worse.
Resident nurses also have their complaints. The downsizing of the bureacracy has made senior positions scarce, and nurses have to watch bitterly as those positions pass them by to go directly to physicians.
Many feel they are not fighting against unfair practices, but also the deeply ingrained patriarchy in medical circles.
There are ways out. Better pay and welfare. Training to create more specialised nurses to free physicians up for other pressing tasks, boosting nurses' morale, and plugging the gap in healthcare services.
This shortage of nurses is not just a matter of flawed human resource management. It's a matter of injustice when scarce resources are siphoned from the poor to serve the rich.
Inaction by the government will only show that its disparity mantra is nothing more than lip service.
Sanitsuda Ekachai is Editorial Pages Editor, Bangkok Post.