Taking care of retired nurses
The Ekurhuleni Retired and Active Nurses Organisation (RANO) held a special function for its members on Saturday, January 20.
RANO founder and chairperson Regina Masombuka was excited to welcome 12 new members at the function, which took place at Rietview Farm in Alberton.
The new nurses are serving at different health centres around Ekurhuleni, including the Kathorus area.
RANO was established in 2014 with the aim of keeping nurses active after retirement.
Masombuka said once the nurses have retired, people tend to forget about them.
“We want to keep track of them, how they are doing and so on,” Masombuka told Kathorus MAIL. “Even if it costs us to visit at their homes to take care of them if they are sick, we can do that as well.”
She said other retired community members also benefit from the help of the organisation, even if they are not members of the nursing profession.
Masombuka urged the new member nurses to dedicate themselves to their profession.
“As the organisation we hope that the new members will continue to support the vision, mission and objective of the organisation – to participate actively in health issues and community building, and to put people first and reduce the waiting time that people take before they get help in local hospitals and clinics.”
Deputy chairperson Joyce Maredi explained how they help to keep retired members active.
“We encourage the active nurses to partner with the elderly retired members to go for follow-up appointments for all chronic diseases and minor ailments at local community health centres, and to use the CDU [Chronic Dispensing Unit] to reduce waiting times and allow clients to collect repeat medications closer to their homes or workplaces, thus alleviating overcrowding in local clinics.”
This will be an annual event.
