Though I have not practiced nursing for money in five years, I still consider myself to be a nurse - still a licensed RN. So it caught my eye when I began seeing ‘stand-ups’ of nurses in Hué, in front of pharmacies advertising medication. I had not seen these on any of our southern trips, and not in Ha Noi. Interesting, especially since I have come to believe the Vietnamese seem to have no natural marketing sense. When in a market in the soap products section, showing a label for bleach, I have been told they don’t have it with no apparent interest in stocking it in the future.
Then, I realized the nurses all over Hué were different. Of course, then I had to find out how many variations there are.
Be sure to click on the photos to see a larger version.
The first nurse seems to be dressed in an ao dai-like uniform, pants under panels. Her paint peeling from the wood – the sun and rain taking its toll.
The reverse of the figure has a similar outfit, but shorter, which is a bit more modern. She also may have a decidedly less Asian look about her, but that might be me. She certainly looks less worn, but all nurses begin to get that way after a while.
Nurse 2 is again more traditional. Actually, like the school girl ao dai’s, her long dress is not actually white, but a pale blue revealed in its folds and shadows.
The next is the one most familiar to me – the one beckoning from next to our Copy Shop. She is more freshly painted, I think. They all get taken in at night, but the sun of Hué takes it’s toll.
Then we have an actual sign with more of a ‘nurse’ uniform.
Nurse # 5 is my favorite. We found her across the river at the Citadel. She reminds me of a 1940’s pinup girl-nurse, cleavage and all! Very non-traditional. By the spelling, could she be French?
Next we have the one I call Sairey Gamp (Martin Chuzzlewit, Chapter 19 by Charles Dickens). She was the nurse we were all warned about during nursing school. The one we certainly did not want to be mistaken for. Anyway, this is a tough neighborhood to be a nurse on the street. No doubt about it.
Việt Nam is a country updating itself, entering the world market. Its people are embracing the traditional while racing into the 21st century. This last pharmacy nurse is shiny enameled metal, and will be working a long time.