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01 September 2020 | Story Andre Damons
Ntabiseng TEN Nursing winner
Nthabiseng Manele (23), a third-year student in the School of Nursing, is this year’s winner of the Exceptional Nurse Campaign Award.
A third-year Nursing student from the University of the Free State (UFS) became the first-ever student from the UFS to win the prestigious Exceptional Nurse Campaign Award.  

Nthabiseng Manele (23), who was born and raised in Bloemfontein, says she is honoured to receive this award as she didn’t think she would win. She even began to convince herself that she was not good enough and had already given up hope of winning this award.

An honour

“I honestly didn’t know how to feel. I must say, I was surprised at first and didn’t think I deserved this. After sharing the good news with family and close friends, it was made clear to me that I was working hard and that this was just me reaping the rewards.” 

“I feel honoured to represent the university and the Exceptional Nurse Campaign to inspire young people. I am extremely proud of all that I have achieved as a student nurse, and winning this award motivates me to want to do more as a registered nurse,” she says.

According to Nthabiseng, who always had the desire to work in a hospital and help people, her father had more faith in her. “My father always believed that I would come out victorious. I was completely surprised when I received the call, because I had already given up. It is incredible how God works; just when you think you’ve lost the battle, He shows up. This has encouraged me to believe more in myself than ever before.”

Making an impact 

Nthabiseng says she would like to make an impact in the nursing community. “Nurses all over the world are not given the credit they deserve, and I hope to one day follow in the footsteps of pioneers such as Florence Nightingale and Charlotte Searle and change the way the community view us. I believe that it is such an honour to work with other healthcare professionals to help people and save lives.”

Nthabiseng was nominated for the award by Dr Annali Fichardt, Director of the undergraduate programme, shortly after she and three other students returned from working as interns in the Jan Yperman Ziekenhuis Ieper Hospital in Belgium for a month.

She had to write a motivational letter stating why she has chosen nursing as a career, what she enjoys most about nursing, what she found challenging about nursing, and how she hoped to make a difference in the nursing community.

“At first, I was not sure what the award entailed, so my father and I made some phone calls to the campaign in order to learn more about the organisation. After actually seeing what this organisation stood for, which is to empower nurses from all walks of life, I knew that this was the best decision I could ever make in order to cement my place in the nursing community, to make a larger impact.”

Future plans

Nthabiseng is upfront about her future plans in nursing, saying she would like to become a lecturer and hopefully someday be the head of the School of Nursing. She feels this award will help to open doors to many learning opportunities in the nursing profession, equipping and preparing her for such a responsibility. 

“I also understand that this is a national award, which makes me an ambassador of the University of the Free State. I hope to continue excelling in my studies and clinical placements, and to learn as much as I can so that after graduation, I will reflect the level of excellence that the University of the Free State School of Nursing produces.”

  • The Exceptional Nurse Campaign (TEN Campaign) was established in 2005 by a group of nurses, businessmen and -women from various churches in Cape Town. Their mission was to create awareness of the nursing crisis in South Africa, to recruit exceptional young people for the nursing profession, and to mobilise exceptional nurses to the hospitals and clinics where help is needed most. They also encourage, motivate, appreciate, and honour all currently employed nursing staff, as well as raise the status of nurses in our nation.

    They also engage with people of influence to increase the annual health budget to meet critical needs and encourage church groups and communities to volunteer practical assistance at the public hospitals and clinics in the area.


News Archive

Researchers international leaders in satellite tracking in the wildlife environment
2015-05-29

 

Ground-breaking research has attracted international media attention to Francois Deacon, lecturer and researcher in the Department Animal, Wildlife and Grassland Sciences at the UFS, and Prof Nico Smit, from the same department. They are the first researchers in the world to equip giraffes with GPS collars, and to conduct research on this initiative. Recently, they have been joined by Hennie Butler from the Department of Zoology as well as Free State Nature Conservation to further this research.

“Satellite tracking is proving to be extremely valuable in the wildlife environment. The unit is based on a mobile global two-way communication platform, utilising two-way data satellite communication, complete with GPS systems.

“It allows us to track animals day and night, while we monitor their movements remotely from the computer. These systems make possible the efficient control and monitoring of wildlife in all weather conditions and in near-to-real time. We can even communicate with the animals, calling up their positions or changing the tracking schedules.

“The satellite collar allows us to use the extremely accurate data to conduct research with the best technology available. The volume of data received allows us to publish the data in scientific journals and research-related articles.  

“Scientific institutions and the public sector have both shown great interest in satellite tracking, which opens up new ground for scientific research for this university. Data management can be done, using Africa Wildlife Tracking (AWT) equipment where we can access our data personally, store it, and make visual presentations. The AWT system and software architecture provide the researcher with asset tracking, GPS location reports, geo-fencing, highly-detailed custom mapping, history reports and playback, polling on demand, history plotting on maps, and a range of reporting types and functions,” Francois said.

Data can be analysed to determine home range, dispersal, or habitat preference for any specific species.

Francois has been involved in multiple research projects over the last 12 years on wildlife species and domesticated animals, including the collaring of species such as Black-backed Jackal, Caracal, African Wild Dog, Hyena, Lion, Cheetah, Cattle, Kudu, Giraffe, and Black Rhino: “Giraffe definitely being the most challenging of all,” he said.

In 2010, he started working on his PhD, entitled The spatial ecology, habitat preferences and diet selection of giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis giraffa) in the Kalahari region of South Africa.

 

Since then, his work has resulted not only in more research work (supervising four Masters students) but also in a number of national and international projects. These include work in the:

  • Kalahari region (e.g. Khamab Nature Reserve and Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park)
  • Kuruman region (Collared 18 cattle to identify spatial patterns in relation to the qualities of vegetation and soil-types available. This project took place in collaboration with Born University in Germany)
  • Woodland Hills Wildlife Estate and Kolomella Iron Ore – ecological monitoring
  • A number of Free State nature reserves (e.g. Distribution of herbivores (kudu and giraffe) and predators (camera traps)

Francois is also involved with species breeding programmes and management (giraffe, buffalo, sable, roan, and rhino) in Korrannaberg, Rustenburg, Hertzogville, Douglas, and Bethlehem as well as animal and ecological monitoring in Kolomella and Beesthoek iron ore.

Besides the collaring of giraffes, Francois and his colleagues are involved in national projects, where they collect milk from lactating giraffes and DNA material, blood samples, and ecto/endo parasites from giraffes in Southern Africa.

With international projects, Francois is working to collect DNA material for the classification of the nine sub-species of giraffe in Africa. He is also involved in projects focusing on the spatial ecology and adaptation of giraffe in Uganda (Murchison Falls), and to save the last 30 giraffe in the DRC- Garamba National Park.

This project has attracted a good deal of international interest. In June 2014, a US film crew (freelancing for Discovery Channel) filmed a documentary on Francois’ research (trailer of documentary). Early in 2015, a second crew, filming for National Geographic, also visited Francois to document his work.

 

More information about Francois’ work is available at the GCF website. 

Read Francois Deacon's PhD abstract

Direct enquiries to news@ufs.ac.za.

 

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