Life Wilgeheuwel hospital celebrated and honoured their nurses during International Nurses Day on 12 May.
The theme chosen this year by the group is Compassion in Nursing, which aligns to the company’s core values of Performance Pride and Passion for People.
According to unit manager Margaret van Rooyen (33), who also won the Great 100 Nurses for 2015 award said, “It is nice to get acknowledged and appreciated, I do think it brings the feel-good to nursing.
“Today is almost like mother’s day. Today a lot of people are saying thank you. We take note of what you are doing, we feel appreciated, because we feel a lot of pressure every day, and it is nice to pause for a moment and realise that we are doing a good job,” said van Rooyen.
Former rugby legend Kobus Wiese who was also at the event, said nurses deserve to be celebrated every day.
“This is an important day, and being a nurse is an important job, every once in a while we get sick and these are the people who we will look up to,” Wiese said.
Wiese also said government should put measures into place to ensure that nurses are recognised and paid more.
Spokesperson for Gauteng Department of Health Steve Mabona, said the day offers an opportunity for the profession and practitioners to reflect and take stock of what has been achieved thus far. “The nurses are indeed changing our notion of health care delivery – it is not an exaggeration to say public health would not be the same without nurses and their proactive contributions, and participation at all levels of the health care system,” said Mabona.
“Nurses speak as advocates for all those they serve, they are in forefront of ensuring that prevention, care and cure is everyone’s right. They are at the coalface of health care provision, and they are shaping health policy through their expertise,” he said.
