Nursing Profession Victorious in the 2012 Provincial Cecilia Makiwane Nurses' Recognition Awards | Western Cape Government

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Nursing Profession Victorious in the 2012 Provincial Cecilia Makiwane Nurses' Recognition Awards

30 October 2012

The annual Cecilia Makiwane Nursing Awards ceremony was held on the 30th October 2012 at the Stellenbosch Town Hall. The award is an initiative of the National Ministry of Health, in partnership with the provincial departments.

The special award was named after Cecilia Makiwane, the first registered professional black nurse in South Africa, early activist in the struggle for women’s rights and protestor in the first anti-women’s pass campaign in 1912. Cecilia Makiwane was a distinctive woman and a nurse of character.

"Cecilia Makiwane remains a powerful symbol for our nursing profession today. She became the first black Nurse on the continent of Africa, and did so just seven years after professional nursing training first became available in South Africa."

"She was a nurse who broke new ground, a pioneer and a transformer. She had the staying power, the fire within her that enabled her to complete the journey on which she set out. These are qualities that speak to many of us in this time of change and opportunity," said Minister Botha.

In his main address, Minister Botha said: "Nurses make out almost 50 percent of our workforce which means you are indispensable. I am aware that our growing patient numbers put you under even more pressure. I have committed to do what is within my ambit to improve the circumstances under which you work. I am not able to change your salaries, but I am open to innovative ideas that can improve our workflows."

“I would like to use this opportunity to encourage our nursing staff to qualify further, to strengthen your own career prospects, and also our health services," said Minister Botha.

The purpose of the award is to express sincere gratitude to those who form the backbone of the provincial health system, and to pay tribute and salute nurses who have been making a real contribution with commitment and dedication to the health system.

Criteria

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

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

Winner's profile

Sr. Ilze Phipson received her Diploma: General Nursing from the former Otto Du Plessis Nursing College in 1986 and subsequently furthered her studies in Midwifery (1986), Primary Health Care (2000), Dispensing (2006/2007) and Clinical Nursing Science, Health Assessment, Treatment and Care (2010). She started her nursing career at the Lapa Munnik hospital in 1986 as a professional nurse and also worked at Vredendal Hospital and Onse Rust te Huis, Fraserburg. Phipson currently works at the Graafwater primary health care clinic as a clinical nurse practitioner and operational manager. This clinic services primarily a farming community of approximately 5000 people.

She undertakes home visits (in the case of emergencies) after 16h30 as there is no general practitioner residing in Graafwater and the nearest hospital is situated 28 km away in Clanwilliam. After 17h00 (as prearranged with the Lexington manager) she consults and screens Lexington (a construction company) employees without claiming overtime or taking time off. Sr. Phipson is the only clinical nurse practitioner at the clinic and the average head count is approximately 1100 patients per month. Graafwater has to cater for seven mobile routes and five home based care service points.

She does home and school health visits as well as condom distribution with her own transport, without claiming petrol back, and often uses her own funds to finance projects e.g. she used her own funds to replace the carton mobile services route boxes that were damaged, wherein the files of the mobile route patients are stored and transported. She has bought a projector to prepare power point presentations for the patients in the waiting rooms on STI’s, immunizations, TB/HIV etc.

She embodies commitment to service and emphasizes that the client/patients always come first and epitomizes living up to the nurse’s pledge, ethics and values.

Western Cape Provincial Nominees

  1. Angeline Schrikker (Red Cross Memorial Children’s Hospital) (1st Runner Up)
  2. Felicity Anne Abrahams (Victoria Hospital)
  3. Kathleen van Vuuren (Tygerberg Hospital)
  4. Judy Prudence Wallace (Groote Schuur Hospital)
  5. Charlotte Susan Fywers (CDC Beaufort West)
  6. Leaticia Cheanane Kortje (Swellendam, Overberg) (2nd Runner Up)
  7. Fowsia Adams (Ceres, Witzenberg)
  8. Ricardo Oscar Jacobs (Valkenberg Hospital)
  9. Ilse Phipson (Graafwater Clinic) (Winner)
Media Enquiries: 

Darren Francis
Tel: 021 483 6632
Cell: 083 430 3299
E-mail: Darren.Francis@westerncape.gov.za