2010 Provincial Cecilia Makiwane Nurse's Recognition Awards Ceremony

The Western Cape Department of Health hosted its annual Provincial Cecilia Makiwane Nurse's Recognition Awards Ceremony on Wednesday, 27 October 2010 at the Lord Charles Hotel in Somerset West.

The Cecilia Makiwane Recognition Award for Nurses is an initiative of the Ministry of Health, in partnership with the provincial departments. The award was named after Cecilia Makiwane, the first black nurse to be recognised by Government almost a century ago.

The purpose of the award is to recognise the important role played by nurses, who are often overlooked and undervalued. It also seeks to motivate and inspire nurses by recognising and rewarding service delivery excellence.

The Western Cape Minister of Health, Theuns Botha, thanked the Directorate: Nursing Services for their hard work that scrutinised and evaluated the candidates for this award. He compared Cecilia Makiwane, who was registered as South Africa's first black Professional Nurse, to Florence Nightingale, who raised the stature of nursing from an unskilled to a medical profession. "These two women are the difference makers." He congratulated the nominees for their continuous efforts to excel in the Nursing domain.

The selection criteria included living up to the nurses' pledge and nursing ethics; going beyond the call of duty; having a positive attitude towards patients and colleagues; contributing to effective management; and being part of the multi-disciplinary health care team.

Each province identifies a provincial winner and a runner-up. The winner and runner-up from their respective provinces receives a monetary reward. The nine provincial winners will later compete for the National Cecilia Makiwane Recognition Awards.

This year's Western Cape winner, Mr. John Blom was born in Nelspoort in 1957, while his parents were working at a tuberculosis hospital in the region. Blom's father was responsible for maintenance and his mother was a cook at the hospital. He walked five kilometres (5km) everyday to buy groceries for the patients at the hospital, even when it rained he did his part and delivered the goods that were needed by the patients. This dedication started his journey of service and fostered the progression into a professional nursing career.

John Blom trained at Valkenberg Psychiatric Hospital. He was the first coloured male Enrolled Nurse in the Defence Force, where he worked as a medical trainer from 1979 to 1983. He has also worked in other hospitals, namely Tygerberg - in the trauma and psychiatric wards and Nelspoort Hospital in the Tuberculosis and psychiatric wards and is currently working at the West Bank Clinic in Malmesbury.

He has been awarded for outstanding work done at the West Bank Clinic. Mr Blom has gone beyond his call of duty and is involved in supporting programmes for farm workers. He was instrumental in putting up a tracing system to identify TB patients that has assisted in reducing the number of TB patients in the community.

Mr Blom will soon compete with winners from other provinces for the National Cecilia Makiwane Nurses Recognition Awards.

Western Cape Provincial Nominees

• John Blom - West Bank Clinic (Winner)
• Joan Mary-Ann Ferguson - Western Cape Rehabilitation Centre (First Runner-up)
• Susan Hewitt - Lentegeur Hospital (Second Runner-up)
• Sarah Davids - Lentegeur Hospital
• Charmaine de Villiers - Tygerberg Hospital
• Dawood Peters - GF Jooste Hospital
• Jacqueline Cairncross - Groote Schuur Hospital
• Ntombozuko Ponono - Red Cross Children's Hospital
• Miranda Elmarie Scheepers - GF Jooste Hospital
• Edith Swanevelder - Knysna Provincial Hospital
• Esme Sheryll Henn - Overberg District

Issued by:
Directorate Communications
Western Cape Department of Health