Annual Provincial Cecilia Makiwane Nurses' Recognition Awards Ceremony

The annual Cecilia Makiwane Nursing Awards ceremony was held this evening at the Stellenbosch Town Hall, Stellenbosch. The award is an initiative of the Ministry of Health, in partnership with the provincial departments.

The award was named after Cecilia Makiwane, the first registered professional black nurse in South Africa. Several honours have been bestowed upon Cecilia Makiwane and show the regard with which the medical fraternity holds her. Among them are a statue of Makiwane erected in 1977 and a hospital near East London named after her.

The department expressed their sincere gratitude to those who form the backbone of our health system. Tribute was paid to the dedicated nurses who have been making a real contribution with commitment and dedication to the health system in the Western Cape.

Western Cape Minister of Health, Theuns Botha, and Professor Craig Househam, the Western Cape Head of Health, attended the event. Theuns Botha, said: “We employ 12 302 nurses, which demonstrates that nurses are the backbone of our primary healthcare service. Our main challenge remains the shortage of specialised nurses and, to address this, it is a priority to develop, maintain and implement a training plan for nursing managers. In this regard we are awaiting the outcomes of the skills audit of senior management. We have also prioritised the awareness of the image of nurses. Our behavioural change programme is important in this regard.”

“I would like to take this opportunity to thank our nurses for their hard work. Nursing is not a job, but a calling.”

Criteria
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 a multi-disciplinary healthcare team.

Winners profile
Maria Maghrieta Goodier, a senior auxiliary nurse, has dedicated her life to helping others in the Ruyterwacht community, where she lives and works.

Goodier believes in pro-active nursing. She teaches the patients how to mix the diarrhoea solution and randomly asks questions because she believes that this can save a child’s life in her community. Patients are “recruited” for pap smears and HIV testing on a daily basis.

She often stays late to ensure that her patients are loaded onto the ambulances that transport them to the district or tertiary hospitals. She bought a foot care apparatus and products to start a foot care project at the clinic and at home and these services are available three times a week at the facility. She does home visits and administers foot care for the elderly. If she sees any wounds that are infected, she refers the patient, especially those with diabetes, to the clinic for antibiotics.

A member of the neighbourhood watch, she does patrols in her area and every second Sunday she accompanies her pastor to Goodwood prison, where they do spiritual ministry with the inmates. Once a month she visits the Victory Outreach Drug Rehabilitation Centre, where she also does ministry and counselling sessions. As a member of the Community Police Forum, she gives regular feedback to the hospital, especially about any new drugs that are being circulated in the community. She believes that her contribution to help reduce crime, violence, drug abuse etc. has some impact on the amount of patients visiting the health institution with crime related injuries etc.

Everyone in her community knows she does counselling sessions at her home and parents often come to her asking for advice about drug abuse, abused women and addicts often seek her help after hours. She does family planning for teenagers after hours to motivate them to come to the clinic after school.

She is a modern day Cecilia Makiwane who personifies all the values that the nursing profession stands for.

The Western Cape Provincial Nominees were

• Magda Bouwer (Blanco Clinic in George)
• Maggie Lena Damons (George Hospital)
• Maria Maghrieta Goodier – Winner (Ruyterwacht Community Health Centre)
• Leonard Samuel Maschilla - Second Runner-Up (HIV/AIDS, STIs and TB Coordinator for the Drakenstein sub-district, Cape Winelands)
• Catherina Mcuncu Nkonyane - First Runner-Up (Hermanus Hospital)
• Vivienne O’ Brien (Tygerberg Hospital)
• Nicola Ohlson (Groote Schuur Hospital)
• Charmaine Joy Rinquest (Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital)
• Shaun Raino Roberts (Vredenburg Hospital)