Isabel Quelhas: “To teach is both a great privilege and a serious responsibility”

How did your academic journey in Nursing begin?

I started very young, at 18, in a demanding program that truly tests maturity and responsibility from an early stage. The Nursing degree was very challenging and rigorous; each year and each new area brought something new. But it was probably the best decision I ever made professionally.

And after completing your degree, you began practicing.

I started working in intensive care, the area that challenged me the most and where I believed I would learn the most. And that proved true - it is a very impactful experience. The degree provides a foundation for professional life, but it cannot prepare us for everything we will encounter. It was a demanding work environment: physically, with long shifts - sometimes 12 hours without sitting down - and emotionally, as we deal very closely with life and death. Three years later, I moved into teaching at the same school where I had studied. I then pursued further specialization in Nursing and followed what is, more or less, the expected academic path: a master’s degree and a PhD.

How do you currently approach the challenge of teaching?

It makes sense to me to be close to students and, through science as well as example, to convey the humanistic and Christian values that matter and can make a difference in their holistic education. Teaching is, indeed, a mix of a great privilege and a great responsibility. The privilege lies in staying up to date with emerging knowledge and being in contact with a crucial stage of a person’s life - higher education - where I believe I can influence students. They are highly capable young people, with many more opportunities than previous generations had - and that is a great human asset. However, we carry the responsibility of being transformative in their personal and professional development, helping them overcome less favourable aspects and make the most of their strengths and opportunities.

“It is in the most difficult moments that, as nurses, we can be most meaningful to children and their parents.”

You specialized in Child and Pediatric Health Nursing. What drew you to this area?

Throughout my journey, I have always been more sensitive and attentive to issues related to childhood and parenting. Nursing allows us to be present throughout people’s life processes - in this field, from conception to adulthood. There are immense joys: hearing that someone is going to become a parent, that a child has been born healthy, is growing well, succeeding at school, making friends - these are all wonderful moments we share very intensely. But we cannot ignore that things do not always go well: children get sick, children die, children are born with disabilities. Today, we face a complex reality: on one hand, we save many children and help them survive even when born prematurely; on the other, these outcomes can carry deeply impactful consequences for families. So, there is a balance between joy and hardship - but undoubtedly, the positive outweighs the difficult. Students often tell me, “I love children, but seeing them sick would be very hard for me.” I encourage them to reflect that when we truly care about someone, we must accept both the good and the difficult. It is precisely in the hardest moments that we, as nurses, can be most meaningful -  helping to ease suffering and make those situations more bearable.

You have focused your research on parenting in adverse contexts, particularly in prison settings. What have you discovered?

My interest in parenting has always been part of my professional path, but I began exploring adverse contexts more specifically during my PhD. I sought to understand what it means to be a mother in prison, and I discovered many things. I found that these mothers are deeply focused on their children. For some, motherhood in that context gave new meaning to their experience, partly because they are solely responsible for their child’s care and cannot rely on others. I also realized that these children have a full-time mother, something that is not always the case outside prison, where work and other responsibilities often require parents to rely on others for childcare. Although children are removed from a context of freedom, up to a certain age they are not fully aware of this, and it is important to note that they benefit from constant maternal care - sometimes until the age of five. The prison system also requires these women to fulfil their role as mothers, which, in most cases, they do responsibly. However, there are also constraints: in prison, they are first and foremost inmates, and only then mothers. This can conflict with certain rights established by law. For example, while parental presence during a child’s hospitalization is a recognized right, incarcerated mothers cannot exercise it in the same way: they are treated as visitors and require a guard’s presence, which limits that right. These are just some of my observations. It was an entirely new and largely unexplored context, not only for me but also for nursing as a discipline. And I understanding these realities can contribute to better care for these mothers and children.

“Care, which must always be grounded in good practice, also has a personal dimension, where each professional incorporates tools and techniques in their own way.”

You mentioned several challenges. How do you prepare nursing students for such scenarios?

From the very first year, we teach communication, a broad and essential skill. We focus particularly on communicating with children and parents, including delivering bad news. So, there is a strong academic preparation for this type of care. Then, there is the personal integration of this learning. Students arrive at 18, with a defined personality and character, which does not need to be changed, but rather developed in line with the demands of the course and the profession. Care, which must always be grounded in good practice, also has a personal dimension: each individual incorporates tools and techniques in their own way, according to their understanding. Professional maturity also plays an important role in shaping this process.

Would you recommend any film or series related to child health?

The series “Adolescence” explores a particularly significant stage of life within paediatric care and portrays current challenges of adolescence that are highly impactful and demanding for contemporary parenting. I believe everyone should watch it, especially those who have or are planning to have children.

What advice would you give to someone just starting the course?

It is important to approach this degree as a lifelong profession, remembering that we must strive for excellence, as caring for others demands it. The goal is to develop care that is competent, ethically robust, and fair for all. These will be four years of development, combining theoretical and practical components - the course has a strong practical focus. Students will have the opportunity to prepare for a demanding but highly rewarding profession. If it is truly what they want, it will undoubtedly be deeply fulfilling.