Nursing: not your average nine-to-five

POLOKWANE –  It is no surprise that the day dedicated to the celebration of the selfless work nurses do falls on the birthday of one of the most influential nurses in history, Florence Nightingale.

To find out more about the work these men and women do, Review visited Salome Malobane Masekela (61), a nurse with more than 30 years’ experience in the field.

Masekela began her nursing career 1978, in Ga-Rankua. She says she was inspired by a dedicated nurse in her village who dedicated her life to serving her community. “I have always wanted to pursue a career in nursing ever since I was a young girl. Where I grew up in my village, Makotopong, people were struggling to obtain health care services, there was only one nurse in my community.

“I saw how dedicated she was and how much work she had to do single handily in the clinic and outside the clinic in the community, from there I made a vow that I will go and study nursing so that I can come and help the people in my community,” Masekela recalls.

As the largest health care profession in the world, there is no doubt that nurses are key to the achievement of the United Nation’s Millennium Development Goals (MDG).

Masekela says in many instances, nurses are the first or only health care facilitators some people have access to. She says every individual, be it the president of a country, a teacher or someone on the street, will require the services of a nurse at some point in their lives. According to Masekela, a nurse’s job is not only to tend to patients but to educate and enlighten their communities about health issues that may affect them.

Nurses are educated to understand the complex nature of maintaining health and wellness, and the impact of psychosocial and socio-economic factors such as poverty, unemployment and ethnicity.

The world is blessed to have people like Masekela who dedicate their lives to taking care of others.

reporter29@nmgroup.co.za