Latest News Archive

Please select Category, Year, and then Month to display items
Previous Archive
15 February 2022 | Story Andrè Damons
Dr Jeanette Mmabosa Sebaeng
After graduating with her post-basic diploma in Forensic Nursing from the University of the Free State (UFS) in 2006, Dr Jeanette Mmabosa Sebaeng returned to the institution as its newly appointed Head of the School of Nursing.

Dr Jeanette Mmabosa Sebaeng, newly appointed Head of the School of Nursing at the University of the Free State (UFS), is a UFS alumna who believes that the skills and knowledge she has learned here and at other institutions where she has worked, would contribute towards the vision of the university. Dr Sebaeng assumed her new position in January 2022 and is  looking forward to working with Prof Gert van Zyl, Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences, and the rest of the team in the school and the faculty.

Joining Kovsies

“I am so thrilled; some of the expected roles of this position include serving in some university management structures beyond the school and external stakeholders, and I look forward to the exposure and profound experiences I will receive in this institution,” says Dr Sebaeng. According to her, the decision to join Kovsies emanated from her envisaged personal and professional growth, mainly in the sphere of management and leadership in the nursing profession as well as in the university. “The organisational culture of ubuntu embedded in the UFS learning and teaching strategy resonates well with the saying in my culture: ‘Motho ke motho ka batho ba bangwe’ (I am because you are). The ubuntu principles of respect, caring, compassion, and dignity of others are in alignment with my personal values, and this in itself is an assurance that I will fit snuggly and thrive in the Kovsie environment.”

The University of the Free State’s vision of producing students who are professionally competent and globally employable, seems to be attainable. During my first two weeks in office, I received documents from Dubai, Philadelphia, and London for academic verification of our graduates who applied for job opportunities in these countries. This is fascinating, and I wish there could be a way of getting feedback from employers in these and other countries to determine if we are producing graduates with the desired attributes that are internationally comparable,” says Dr Sebaeng.

Looking forward

“The world of nursing education in the country is very small and there is a lot of interaction among members from different universities. I learned on one platform that the UFS School of Nursing has a state-of-the-art simulation laboratory rated number one and the best in the country and perhaps even in Southern Africa. I cannot wait to engage with both the staff and students about the use of the simulation laboratory; I would like to ensure its optimal use, while maintaining it for the benefit of the students.”

Visions and goals

As Head of the school, Dr Sebaeng hopes to provide leadership, guidance, and support to staff and students in the School of Nursing, and to ensure that the environment is warm and conducive to all. She is also looking forward to working harmoniously with the staff within the school, as she believes in an environment that enables all staff members to flourish in the expected academic activities.  “I will also ensure that I work according to the acceptable and recommended norms and standards of the nursing profession, which will be to the benefit of the School of Nursing and the nursing practice. For instance, good relations with the relevant stakeholders such as the FSDoH, clinical health facilities, and the South African Nursing Council, among others, remain crucial for the education and training of nursing students. All members’ views and inputs leading to the upscaling of the school will be valued,” states Dr Sebaeng.

Dr Sebaeng, who previously worked as a lecturer and researcher at the North-West University (NWU), says there is a vast difference between her current position and the previous one. According to her, her current position brings more responsibilities, including leading, guiding, and making decisions that should yield tangible, set goals aligned with the vision of the university.

A mother of two and grandmother of a handsome two-year-old grandson, Dr Sebaeng is adventurous and loves travelling outside the country, with an outgoing personality to match. Cooking and trying out new dishes with her family is also very satisfying. She also loves interacting with young children, which led her to teaching Sunday school for 30 years. “My life mainly revolves around church, home, and work,” says Dr Sebaeng.

The impact of COVID-19 on nurses

Nursing education teaches nurses to be competent, knowledgeable, and to acquire relevant skills that enable them to assume their professional role with confidence. However, nurses also require optimal health to provide quality care to our societies. “The outbreak of COVID-19 has taught us that nursing in South Africa lacks systems aimed at developing resilience and coping mechanisms during pandemics. Most nurses were and still are scared that they may contract the virus and infect their own families, or even worse, die themselves. Nursing education institutions must include workable psychological interventions in the teaching of student nurses, which will assist nurses to survive during future pandemics. Despite this, clinical practices must try to alleviate compassion fatigue, work-related stress, and burnout experienced by nurses, in order to render optimal health care and to continue to be functional in their daily activities.”

News Archive

First doctorate in Thoracic Surgery in Africa awarded
2009-05-12

The University of the Free State (UFS) has become the first university in Africa to award a Ph.D. degree in Thoracic Surgery. The degree was conferred on Prof. Anthony Linegar from the university’s Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery during its recent graduation ceremony.

Thoracic surgery is a challenging subspecialty of cardiothoracic surgery. It began in South Africa in the 1940s and is a broad medico-surgical specialist discipline that involves the diagnosis, operative and peri-operative treatment of acquired and congenital non-cardiac ailments of the chest.

Prof. Linegar became the first academic to conduct a mixed methods analysis of this surgical specialty, which included a systematic review of all the research done in this field in South Africa. The title of his thesis is A Model for the Development of Thoracic Surgery in Central South Africa. The research was based on the hypothesis of a performance gap between the burden of disease in the community and the actual service provision. It makes use of systems theory and project management concepts to develop a model aimed at the development of thoracic surgery.

The research proved that there is a significant under provision of clinical services in thoracic surgery. This was quantified to a factor of 20 times less than should be the case, in diseases such as lung and oesophagus cancer. According to Prof. Linegar, there are multiple reasons for this. Listed amongst these reasons is the fact that thoracic surgery is not part of the undergraduate education in medical training. There tends to be a low level of awareness amongst clinicians as to what the thoracic surgeon offers their patients. The diagnostic and referral patterns in primary and secondary health facilities, where diseases must be picked up and referred early, are not functioning well in this regard. In addition, relatively few cardiothoracic surgeons express an interest in thoracic surgery.

Prof. Linegar’s model is named the ATLAS Mode, which is an acronym for the Advancement of Thoracic Surgery through Analysis and Strategic Planning. It includes the raising of awareness of the role of the specialist thoracic surgeon in the treatment of patients with thoracic diseases as part of the solution to the problem. Furthermore, it aims to develop an accessible and sustainable specialist service that adequately provides for the needs of the community, and that is appropriately represented in health administration circles.

His promoters were Prof. Gert van Zyl, Head of the School of Medicine at the UFS, Prof. Peter Goldstraw, from the Imperial College of London, United Kingdom (UK) and Prof. Francis Smit, Head of the Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery at the UFS.

Prof. Linegar has been with the UFS since 2004, is a graduate from Stellenbosch University in 1984 and completed his postgraduate training in Cardiothoracic Surgery at the University of Cape Town. He was granted a Fellowship in Thoracic Surgery at the Royal Brompton Hospital in London, UK and has since held consultant positions at the UFS, Stellenbosch University and in private practice. He has been involved in registrar training since returning from the UK in 1994 and has extensive experience in intensive care medicine. He has published widely, has presented papers at many international conferences, has been invited as a speaker on many occasions and has won awards for best presentation on three occasions.

Media Release
Issued by: Lacea Loader
Assistant Director: Media Liaison
Tel: 051 401 2584
Cell: 083 645 2454
E-mail: loaderl.stg@ufs.ac.za  
12 May 2009
 

We use cookies to make interactions with our websites and services easy and meaningful. To better understand how they are used, read more about the UFS cookie policy. By continuing to use this site you are giving us your consent to do this.

Accept