Testimonies of the nurses from Lipik of the homeland war

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Ljerka Pavkovic and Mirjana Cahun

Specialized Hospital for Medical Rehabilitation Lipik, Croatia

: J Nurs Patient Care

Abstract

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The story Testimonies of the Nurses from Lipik of the Homeland War was created according to archive photographs collected by war cameramen whose materials were used to write historical documentation for the town of Lipik. The aim was to authentically show the city's tragedy, sufferings of civilians, the supernatural efforts of the defenders of Lipik, human destinies and all the other horrors only war can bring. The destruction and revival of the city with a great historical heritage was witnessed by nurses participating in those war events. Before the Homeland War, Lipik was a beautiful town known for its thermal water, health resort, hundred-year-old park, beautiful promenades, horses, dance halls, pools and everything that can help a healthy person feel healthier and the sick to get the care they need. In the early morning of a summer day an aerial bombing attack broke off all the beauty of life in Lipik. It was August the 19th 1991, 5 am. The children's home, hospital, school, church, stables and civilian objects were all devasted by the falling grenades. How they felt, what they were thinking, what they were doing, how they organized and what was most difficult is told by the surviving nurses who bravely participated and aided defenders and people in the war. After the liberation of Lipik on December 6th 1991, the city returned to life bit by bit. The contribution of nurses will remain permanently recorded in the history of Lipik and the Republic of Croatia in connection with the organization of palliative care in the country and the Society of Nurses of the Homeland War of the Croatian Association of Nurses.

Biography

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Ljerka Pavkovic works as an Assistant Director of Nursing and Head Nurse at the Special Hospital for Medical Rehabilitation, Lipik. She has graduated in Nursing Management at the University of Health Applied Sciences in Zagreb. She also pursued additional education in the field of palliative care at CEPAMET at the University of Zagreb and Zagreb's Institute for the Culture of Health. Driven to help people, she initiated and cofounded Palliative Team LiPa and encourages youth participation in volunteerism. She is actively involved in the strategy for the development of palliative care in the Republic of Croatia and comprehensive care for Croatian veterans respectively. Due to her experience of nursing on the battlefield, she promotes training of nurses in correspondence to crisis and was consequently named President at the Association of Nurses of the Homeland War of the Croatian Nurses Association (HUMS).

E-mail: ljerka.pavkovic@bolnica-lipik.hr