Walking through the doors of the Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Medical Sciences (SSSIHMS) in Prasanthigram, one does not feel the usual foreboding of a hospital. Instead, there is a warmth of care. One of the main pillars of this care is the nursing department.

Not a job, but a Spiritual Sadhana. While nursing is a gruelling, high-pressure job, at SSSIHMS, Prasanthigram, it is treated as a spiritual sadhana. The "Sai’s Way of Care " is a deep-rooted belief that serving a human being is the highest form of worship. As Swami has said many times, “Manava Seva is Madhava Seva”.

Therefore, at the hospital, the nursing profession is elevated from a career to a spiritual practice—aimed at eventually reaching Swami. It is no longer just ‘work’, but it is ‘Swami’s Work’. The hospital is often called a "Temple of Healing," and for the nurses, their work area is their sanctum sanctorum.

The Motherly Touch. 

When a nurse walks up to the bedside of a patient here, she know that they are not just talking to a patient, but they are looking at someone who is far away from home, feels vulnerable, or is getting admitted for the first time in any hospital. There are even patients who tell our nurses that they are the first one in their entire lineage to undergo a surgery.

In such situations, the responsibility of the nurse becomes much more profound. Here, the nurses remind themselves of Swami’s words. “Treat everyone as your kith and kin.” How would we speak if it were our own son, daughter, father, mother, sister, or brother? That is how our nurses speak to the patients, and that is how patients need to be spoken to. Yes, rules have to be followed, and discipline has to be maintained, but with love. No wonder then that one patient once said, “I was taken better care here than my parents ever did.” And it is not uncommon to hear patients say that they want to stay a few more days in the hospital, though they are fit for discharge.

The Bridge Between High-Tech and a Human Touch. 

The ICUs at SSSIHMS are a world of flashing screens and complex data. It can be intimidating for an uneducated villager who would not have seen such advanced gadgets. This is where the nursing staff performs their most vital work.

They act as translators - not just of language, but of their anxiety into comfort. They bridge the gap between sophisticated science and human emotions. They understand that after the surgeons complete their job, they, the nurses, have to provide loving care to see that the patient recovers well. 

Equality in Care: Treating every patient equally is etched in the heart and work ethic of every staff member of the hospital. The nurses embody this spirit. Patients from all across the socio-economic spectrum visit the hospital for treatment. The places everybody can see ‘equality of care’ in action are the wards and ICUs. The patient may be rich or poor, educated or uneducated, holding a big position or not, and belonging to any place in the world - all are treated equally. All are special, everybody is important, and everybody has to be listened to. The same clinical protocol is followed for all. This verily defines equality of case.

A Model to Emulate. The nursing care at SSSIHMS, Prasanthigram, serves as a beautiful reminder of what healthcare was always meant to be. It strips away the commercialism and the "transactional" nature of modern medicine.

By blending professional expertise with motherly devotion, the nurses at SSSIHMS prove that the most powerful tool in any hospital is not advanced gadgets but the human touch. In the quiet halls of SSSIHMS, Prasanthigram, the nurses don't just save lives; they restore the dignity and spirit of every person they come in touch with.

Hand hygiene is one of the most effective and simplest measures to prevent the spread of infections in healthcare settings. The World Health Organization (WHO) hand hygiene day theme for 2026 is “Action saves lives”. On World Hand Hygiene Day, we reaffirm our commitment to patient safety and infection prevention by promoting proper hand hygiene practices among all healthcare workers. Adhering to the “Five Moments for Hand Hygiene” ensures that hands are cleaned at critical points of patient care, reducing the risk of healthcare-associated infections. 

As Swami always says, “A Pure thought from a pure heart is better than a mantra”. In SSSIHMS, Prasanthigram, it is “A clean act from committed hands is more powerful than words—because in healthcare, right action saves lives”. Using alcohol-based hand rubs or washing with soap and water at the right time protects both patients and staff. Continuous education, compliance monitoring, and awareness activities play a vital role in strengthening this practice. Let us work together to build a culture of safety and accountability by making hand hygiene a daily habit. Clean hands save lives—each action counts in delivering quality healthcare.

While I was working in the Cardiac Care Unit, a patient came in as an emergency. His situation was serious. Our doctors tried their best to revive him, but his vitals were not coming up to the required levels. One of my colleagues told me, “Prema, the only thing remaining now is to pray to Swami. Only if Swami wills, he will live.” So we took Swami’s vibhuti, chanted the Sai Gayatri mantra, and applied a little vibhuti on the forehead of the patient. Within a few minutes, his vitals started improving. We were all surprised. The doctors turned around and asked us what magic we had done. We replied, “It is not magic. It is Swami’s wish. We merely prayed”.

A similar incident occurred when I was posted in the Cardiac OT. There was a patient with a complex heart condition and the  chances of his surgery being successful were not high. This was communicated to the relatives of the patient, and with their consent, the surgery was performed. The surgery went off uneventfully, but in the ICU, his recovery was extremely slow, which caused a lot of worry to the surgeons and also to us. One day, our cardiac surgeon called me and mentioned that I should speak to the relatives about the fragile situation that the patient was in. I went to the relatives who were outside the ICU and told them, “We have done the best we could do; now it is in Swami's Hands. Pray to Him unflinchingly.” The relatives took my words to their heart and kept chanting Swami’s name every moment when they were sitting outside the ICU. Sure enough, the patient's situation started improving, and within a few days, the patient was fit for discharge.

Swami has told us, even in His Discourses, that great devotees like Shabari and Jatayu did not ask specifically for liberation but prayed to Lord Rama for His Grace. And they were granted liberation because of their prayer and pure Love. Prayer is like a magnet for His Grace. Prayers can move mountains, it is said. Ours is but to pray. The answers to our prayers are in His Hands. I know now that prayers have the power to heal us.

Parmeshwar was working in a chain of renowned hotels in Kathmandu, Nepal, as service staff for more than a decade. He had left his family back in his village, which was more than 250 km away. The distance may not seem much, but in the Himalayan terrain of Nepal, this meant more than half a day's journey. Away from family, Parmeshwar toiled away, and after several years of hard work, was promoted to be in charge of the service staff.

“As I was promoted, my responsibilities also grew. I remember the next day, there were many foreign dignitaries visiting our hotel, so I had to be back early in the morning. It was around 9:30 pm when I left the hotel for my accommodation. I could not get any public transport and, therefore, requested a lift from a passerby on his motorbike. We had just travelled a few kilometres on his motorbike when a minivan veered from the other side of the road and hit the bike squarely in the centre," Parmeshwar remembered.

The bike rider was unharmed, as was the mini-truck driver. However, Parmeshwar bore the full force of the impact. His pelvis region had multiple fractures. He was immediately shifted to a local hospital and, from there, to another hospital later, where he underwent surgery for the pelvis region. It was an expensive surgery, which cost around Rs. 5 lakh, with the hotel he was working in pitching in generously.

"But even after the surgery, the pain remained. I was not able to move around freely. When I went to the hospital for a review, I was informed that another surgery had to be performed and the second surgery would cost around Rs 10 lakh," Parmeshwar said. I could not afford that amount and was feeling hopeless," he added. It was during this time that Parmeshwar's brother, Ishwar, an ardent Sai Devotee, suggested that they should visit the Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Medical Sciences, Prasanthigram. "I have been visiting Prasanthi Nilayam since the year 2000 for Swami's Darshan and have seen the Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Medical Sciences, Prasanthigram, every time during my visit. So I wanted my brother to visit once, with the faith that he could be treated here.

According to Dr Prakash Khanchandani, the Head of the Department of Orthopaedics, SSSIHMS, Prasanthigram, the patient earlier had an Acetabular fracture fixation with multiple plates and screws, following the trauma. However, following surgery, he required one more surgery for the arthritis of the right hip. The arthritis progressed so much so that he became physically incapacitated. Even basic activities of daily living had become a nightmare for him. The treatment of choice in a case like this was a total hip replacement surgery, which could make his life nearly normal. However, the surgery was challenging since the implants, which were fixed earlier, would interfere with the present joint replacement surgery, and hence, a thorough pre-operative planning was mandatory. After 3D CT imaging evaluation and thorough planning, the surgery was taken up. By Swami’s immense grace, good implant fixation with satisfactory alignment was achieved, and the patient recuperated very well postoperatively. The patient will go back to his hometown, join his work, and lead a near-normal life soon.

RARE PHOTOGRAPH OF BHAGAWAN SRI SATHYA SAI BABA IN THE HOSPITAL