KPJ Puteri Specialist Hospital organised a corporate social responsibility (CSR) activity at Johor Tanjung Piai National Park, Pontian, Johor, in conjunction with International Nurses Day, which is celebrated on 12 May every year.
In keeping with the theme of the International Nurses Day celebration, ‘Our Nurses, Our Future,’ the administration of KPJ Puteri took the initiative to organise outdoor activities aimed at protecting and maintaining the environment.
To protect the ecology and safeguard the ground from erosion, 40 nurses planted 250 mangrove trees on the Tanjung Piai seashore near the Tanjung Piai National Park.
Chief Executive Officer of KPJ Southern Regional Hospital, Azhar Abdullah said that in addition to maintaining the forest reserve area remains an important resource and wave buffer zone and increasing the number of mangrove swamp trees.
“This activity aims to raise awareness among staff and nurses to preserve the mangrove swamp forest ecosystem including coastal areas.
“This activity is also a continuation of the hospital’s sustainability programme, which previously stopped the use of plastic, saved energy in an inefficient cooling system, and used e-waste systems.
“Besides revealing social activities among nurses who we know carry heavy responsibilities at the hospital, they are not clumsy in joining hands to make this CSR activity a success,” he said.
Also present were the Chief Executive Officer of KPJ Puteri, Hazarul Azly Hamzah and the Chief Nurse, Faridah Dawek.
This practise not only promotes a love of nature but also helps to preserve the original mangrove habitat.
An awareness programme was also held to clean and beautify the mangrove swamp region, with 79kg of waste successfully collected in the form of plastic bottles, drink cans, slippers, plastic bits, and rope in one hour.
KPJ Puteri, which is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year, has a 155-bed hospital with 36 specialised doctors and is always carrying out its social responsibilities. Among these were donations to Rumah Nur Ehsan Johor during Ramadan, hospital bed donations to two organisations for the Chinese New Year celebration, and treating patients referred from government hospitals to relieve overcrowding or long waiting periods.
