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27 May 2021 | Story André Damons | Photo André Damons
Prof Magda Mulder, who has been the Head of the School of Nursing for the past 10 years, retired on 26 May after 41 years at the University of the Free State (UFS). “I was privileged to work this long. I do not know of any other academic of my age who is still in a permanent position. It is time now to go and make room for a younger generation to take the school forward.”

Looking back on a career spanning four decades at the University of the Free State (UFS) School of Nursing, Prof Magda Mulder, who retired as Head of the school at the end of May, had more highs than lows. Her last day was on 26 May 2021 – ending a career of 41 years. 

One such achievement that this dedicated nursing professional can be proud of, is helping to ensure that the School of Nursing was one of the first training schools in South Africa to complete its curriculum during a year marked by a hard lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

“My years at the School of Nursing were wonderful and joyous. Things do happen, and not everything was sunshine and rainbows. However, the past 10 years have been especially good because of the people and the team I have worked with, our achievements, and all the things we have done that we can be proud of,” said Prof Mulder.

Her highlights 

Prof Mulder’s first task when she started working at the UFS in 1980, was to standardise all the basic clinical procedures in nursing. This was an enormous undertaking that later turned into a textbook, now in its fourth edition (2019). 
Among Prof Mulder’s many highlights – which included starting the first nursing simulation laboratory, becoming part of the Faculty of Health Sciences, and moving to the Idalia Loots Building – the biggest highlight was receiving the Atlantic Philanthropies grant of R16 million. 

“During this period, we established an Academy and started developing short learning programmes to generate third-stream income for the school. In total, 35 short learning programmes were developed, the Benedictus Kok Building (Nursing education facility) was renovated, and new simulation laboratories were installed. It was a wonderful experience, and we started using simulations as an innovative teaching strategy for our students. The school benefited a great deal from that grant,” said Prof Mulder proudly. 

Nursing not the first choice 

According to Prof Mulder, nursing was not her first choice as a career, as she wanted to study either plant or animal science. Due to a lack of funding, she had to choose between nursing and teaching to earn money and be independent. Nursing won. 

“I have never regretted it. These have been wonderful years. The university is a great place to work. There is never a dull moment, and you do not know what to expect next. It was white-water rafting: you must go, go, go with the stream, and I think this was my salvation. I was able to adjust and adapt despite my age. Holding on to your old beliefs does not work.” 

Prof Mulder spent 10 years as Head of the School of Nursing, starting in 2011. Prior to this, she was Programme Director. 

Time to leave
According to her, COVID-19 made her realise that it was time to leave and make room for new blood to take the school further. 

“I was privileged to work this long. I do not know of any other academic of my age who is still in a permanent position. That in itself is a privilege. But it is time now to go and make room for a younger generation to take the school forward,” said Prof Mulder. 

With COVID-19 came many challenges, and she realised that her team needed to make a 90 degree turn from face-to-face teaching to online teaching. 

“It was not easy, but we did it. We were one of the first training schools in South Africa to complete the year. We had to plan to make up for the hours lost due to COVID-19, and we did it by getting the students to work night shift. We had to obtain special permission from private hospitals to let our students work longer hours.” 

The pandemic was also her worst time at the university.  On returning to campus during the lockdown to help students finish their training, Prof Mulder felt the impact of the lockdown. “The campus was dead quiet with not a soul in sight. It was like a graveyard. This was the worst part for me. Usually, I can hear the students from my office, I hear their laughter, and I hear the excitement of graduation, the drums. However, there was nothing. It was as if the world had come to an end.”

Future of nursing

After 41 years, Prof Mulder still talks with passion about nursing and students. She is excited about the future of nursing, the students, and the work the UFS School of Nursing is doing to prepare students for their careers.  However, she is also deeply concerned about the profession she loves so dearly. 

“There is a tremendous shortage of nurses worldwide, and we came to realise this during COVID. There are simply not enough nurses, especially in specialisation areas such as critical care, theatre, primary health care, and forensic nursing. Currently, all those programmes have been phased out. “We are waiting for the South African Nursing Council (SANC) to approve our new curricula,” said Prof Mulder.   

What comes next? 
Retiring is a bittersweet moment. “It was many years of long hours, working during holidays, working over weekends, and then suddenly there is nothing. It is a new phase in my life, and I am looking forward. I am excited but also hesitant, as I don’t know what to expect from the future.”

“I will miss nursing; I will miss the academic environment. I am a dedicated type of person; the academic environment was my life. These are my friends. I am going to miss the friendships I made here. As an academic, you do not have time to make other friends, so colleagues become your academic friends, and later they become your academic family. I will miss my team. I have an amazing team.”

 

 


Final goodbyes
Prof Marianne Reid, Associate Professor: School of Nursing (worked with Prof Mulder at the UFS since 2005)



“What an honour and privilege to work with Prof Magda. What nurse would not want to have Prof Magda as a model in her profession? She was the same as a person. She made me feel safe as an employee precisely because she could identify and exploit my personal limitations and possibilities.”

“Prof Mulder was the type of leader who invited us to participate, and then gave her input by pointing out the pros and cons. May this new phase in your life be a blessing and be aware of the blessings from our Lord daily. May the prospect of big plans feature in the future.”


News Archive

PhD students’ voices reverberate across Africa and beyond
2014-01-14

 

Noel Ndumeya, Tinashe Nyamunda, Ivo Mhike and Anusa Daimon
Photo: Hannes Pieterse
The Centre of Africa Studies (CAS) has been recruiting the best young scholars from across the SADC region – with magnificent success. In the span of six months, four PhD students have excelled both on the African continent and abroad.

Anusa Daimon, Noel Ndumeya, Ivo Mhike and Tinashe Nyamunda – the names of these distinguished students. Set against the backdrop of global excellence and competition, they have been awarded several positions at conferences and already published world-wide.

Anusa Daimon’s PhD studies at the CAS focuses on Malawian migrants and their descendants in Southern Africa. It explores issues of identity construction and agency among this group.

Since his arrival at the CAS, Daimon has won two fully-funded awards to attend international conferences and workshops. He was invited to attend the Young African Scholars Conference at Cambridge University in the UK. He also went to Brazil to the IGK Work and Human Lifecycle in Global History Summer Academy. This workshop explored the historical and modern meanings and practices of work in terms of ‘freedom’ and ‘unfreedom’.

Noel Ndumeya holds a special interest in environmental history and the aspects of conservation and conflict. His PhD hones in on land and agrarian studies with specific focus on South Eastern Zimbabwe.

Ndumeya has won an award from the African Studies Association United Kingdom (ASAUK). This earned him an invitation to Nairobi, Kenya, to work with an editor from the Journal of Southern Africa Studies (JSAS).

Ivo Mhike’s research specialises in youth culture and their relationship with the state. In his PhD he uses juvenile delinquency as a window towards an analysis of social constructs of youth behaviour. This includes youth policy and their institutional and administrative links to the state.

Mhike has been invited to attend the CODESRIA Child and Youth Institute in Dakar, Senegal, with the theme: Social Protection and the Citizen Rights of Vulnerable Children in Africa.

Tinashe Nyamunda specialises in African Economic History. His PhD thesis is entitled, “The State and Finance in Rhodesia: A study of the evolution of the monetary system during the Unilateral Declaration of Independence (UDI), 1965–1979”.

Under the direction of his primary supervisor, Prof Ian Phimister and his secondary supervisor, Dr Andrew Cohen, four of his papers have been accepted for publication. Nyamunda also received sponsorship from the Rector’s Office for an edited book collection of which he is the leading author. The book focuses on the many aspects of Zimbabwe’s blood diamonds.

Recently, Nyamunda has contributed papers at conferences in Botswana and Scotland and attended a workshop at Lund University in Sweden. He has also received an invitation from Germany and Oxford to present some chapters of his PhD thesis.

“The centre has provided the best working environment any PhD student can dream of,” Nyamunda said. He continued to remark that the opportunities Prof Jonathan Jansen has created opened up immense possibilities for them.

“Given these fruitful experiences in just a year at the university,” Nyamunda said,” imagine what can be accomplished given the resources and environment availed by the institution.” The prospects after his PhD studies looks bright, he concluded, because of the opportunities provided by the UFS.

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