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12 May 2022 | Story Jóhann Thormählen | Photo Supplied
Kovsie Health nurses
The University of the Free State has nursing staff on the Bloemfontein, South and Qwaqwa campuses who serve staff and students daily.

Being able to care, love and help others. These are some of the reasons why nursing staff from Kovsie Health at the University of the Free State (UFS) enjoy and get fulfilment from their profession.

They believe in making a difference and live it out daily while at work on campuses of the UFS.

Like many in their field, they overcome challenges to assist others and that is why Kovsie Health also celebrates International Nurses Day today.

International Nurses Day is celebrated on 12 May to honour nurses around the world for the work they do. It is celebrated on the day Florence Nightingale, the founder of modern nursing, was born.

According to Sister Riana Johnson, Deputy Director: Health and Wellness Centre at the UFS, it is important to celebrate the day as it honours nurses, who often work under challenging circumstances.

Nurses from Kovsie Health serve students and personnel on the UFS Bloemfontein, South and Qwaqwa campuses.
Johnson says her love for people made her chose nursing as a job. “It is a profession where I can live that out by caring and helping others.”

Sister Florence Maleho, who works on the South Campus, agrees: “It is all about giving your best, forgetting about yourself and being there for others.”

According to Sister Corné Vorster her work is challenging on a cognitive level and fulfilling.

“It is a very stimulating and in the same sense you work multidisciplinary with many other disciplines in the medical field.”

Sister Sarien de Necker says helping students in need and seeing their grateful response makes it more than worthwhile. 

“It is about really making a difference,” she says. 

Qwaqwa Campus Nursing staffQwaqwa Campus Nursing staffQwaqwa Campus Nursing staff

Qwaqwa Campus Nursing staff
Qwaqwa Campus nursing staff. (Photo: Supplied)

News Archive

Sought-after fellowship for Deaf Kovsie academic
2012-04-25

 

Magteld Smith
Photo: Provided
25 April 2012

For a Deaf person to achieve academic excellence in a sound-dominated world is extremely challenging, but Ms Magteld Smith sees each challenge as another opportunity.

Ms Smith, a Medical Social Researcher at the University of the Free State (UFS), recently received the Herbert H Humphrey fellowship. She is one of only two South Africans to receive this fellowship.
 
The Humphrey Fellowship Program provides mid-career professionals from designated countries around the world with an opportunity to enhance their professional capabilities through participation and is developed specifically for small clusters of Humphrey Fellows at 18 selected US universities.
 
It was initiated in 1978 to honour the memory and accomplishments of the former Senator and Vice-President, Humbert H. Humphrey. Fellows are selected based on their potential for national leadership and commitment to public service, in either the public or private sector. The programme provides a basis for establishing long-lasting productive partnerships and relationships between citizens of the United States and their professional counterparts in other countries, fostering an exchange of knowledge and mutual understanding throughout the world.
 
Ms Smith applied for this fellowship, but was still very surprised when she heard her application was successful.
 
“Upon receiving the news, in my mind I saw an enormous rotating world globe and I asked my Heavenly Father, "What is happening now?" I saw big libraries with books, laboratories, state of the art technology for people with hearing impairments, big cars, big houses, big trucks, big farmers, big women and the White House with big trouble. Furthermore, I saw how the UFS became the world leader of academic excellence and change for people with disabilities with high technology manufacturing and rehabilitation programmes.”
 
Ms Smith says Prof. Jonathan Jansen, UFS Vice-Chancellor and Rector, is a great asset, because for the first time people with disabilities are high on the priority list.

 

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