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International Nurses Day: Nurses should be protected, valued and respected

16 May 2023 | Story André Damons | Photo Charl Devenish

Prof Mokgadi Matlakala, Academic Chairperson of the Department of Health Studies at UNISA and Deputy Chairperson of the Forum for University Deans in South Africa (FUNDISA), was the keynote speaker and acknowledged the contribution of nurses and the courage to continue to advocate for improved health and healthcare.

Nurses serve with pride, and they should be protected, valued, and respected.

This was the recurring thought from speakers at the University of the Free State (UFS) School of Nursing’s International Nurses Day celebrations.

“We celebrate this day to highlight the importance of nurses in the healthcare services, and to honour our heroes – us being the heroes as well,” said keynote speaker Prof Mokgadi Matlakala, Academic Chairperson of the Department of Health Studies at UNISA and Deputy Chairperson of the Forum for University Deans in South Africa (FUNDISA). “We acknowledge the contribution of nurses and the courage to continue to advocate for improved health and healthcare – and this amid the challenges confronting us.”

Prof Matlakala said the theme of the day, “Our Nurses. Our Future”, comes at a very critical time for the nursing profession, given the circumstances following the COVID-19 pandemic, and the ongoing transformation needed in nursing education, particularly in South Africa.

International Nurses Day is celebrated annually on 12 May, and this year the UFS School of Nursing also hosted a tree-planting to commemorate nurses who lost their lives during the pandemic. Several other activities, including an Amazing Race, outdoor events, and stalls portrayed nursing services in various contexts.

Prof Matlakala said the day also serves as a way of sharing ideas about changes taking place in nursing, and imagining a nurse of the future, both in practice and academia. “In the African context, it is important for us to reflect and understand who our nurses are, where are they, and where have they been trained.”

World mistakenly took nurses for granted

“Today we have an opportunity to celebrate ourselves as nurses, and I encourage you to acknowledge the good work you are doing. And I include the student nurses as well, because they are our future.”

Prof Matlakala said during the pandemic the world mistakenly took nurses for granted. “They treated us as invisible, and as an inexhaustible resource,” she said, outlining areas such as illness among nurses, fear of the pandemic, death, work overload, and unprecedented changes in nursing environments and nursing education as areas where nurses were “taken for granted as superheroes”.

“The pandemic is over, but the question is: Did the nurses receive any counselling after surviving the pandemic? Did they get special leave to rest? In the nursing practice it is business as usual. In nursing education institutions, they are speaking of catching up on the time lost during the pandemic. Nobody is thinking of exhaustion as a non-communicable disease. Yet, many of our nurses are suffering from exhaustion both mentally and physical. It is thus important that we advocate for wellness for our nurses.”

Protect. Respect. Value

Prof Matlakala said protecting nurses relates to how the government or health system can address the growing nursing shortage and provide positive practice environments, especially with regard to safety in the workplace. She also said the ongoing shortage of nurses is a pandemic that is felt across the globe.

Her message to future nurses is that the profession needs nurses who will be available to confront the many challenges nurses are experiencing. “You need to be assertive and take control of your professional status despite the problems we are hearing. One of the values that we need to have is a positive attitude, which means we need to focus on solutions, not only on problems.”

Celebrating the impact of nursing services

Prof Gert van Zyl, Dean of the UFS Faculty of Health Sciences, welcomed guests and said International Nurses Day celebrates the impact of nursing services in providing high-quality healthcare to patients and improving their overall wellbeing.

“Nurses play a critical role in the healthcare system, providing care, support, and education to patients and their families. Thank you for your dedication and passion for your profession,” Prof Van Zyl said. “Thank you for all the sacrifices you made to provide the highest level of care and support to people in need in the recent COVID-19 time. Moreso, your contribution to the healthcare industry is immeasurable. We are grateful for everything you do and have done. Keep up the excellent work.”

He added that he believes professional nurses are motivated by many factors, including three main ones: “A desire to help others, a sense of purpose, and the satisfaction of making a difference in people’s life. To motivate nurses for the future, it is important to recognise their achievements, to support them, and to provide opportunities for development and growth.”

Dr Jeanette Sebaeng, Head of the School of Nursing, said she is privileged to be part of this “very sacred” profession. “I had an opportunity to see life for the first time. I had an opportunity to close someone’s eyes for the first time. I don’t think I would be anything else, even in the next life, other than a nurse.”

She said when 2020 was declared the Year of the Nurse and Midwife, by year-end the meaning had become grim. “We did not expect that it would be our year in that manner. We lost close to 300 nurses in South Africa due to COVID-19. Even after losing our colleagues, here we are, still strong. That is resilience, and for that I salute you.”

Prof Mokgadi Matlakala also took part in a tree-planting to commemorate nurses who lost their lives during the pandemic.

Dr Jeanette Sebaeng, UFS Head of the School of Nursing

Prof Gert van Zyl, Dean of the UFS Faculty of Health Sciences

News Archive

UFS awards honorary doctorates during its centenary week

2004-10-07

The University of the Free State (UFS) will award 12 honorary doctorates on Thursday 14 October 2004 to a diverse group of outstanding South Africans and international experts.

This will be the last in a group of 18 honorary doctorates that the UFS will be awarding in its centenary year.

The awards comprise of a number of well-known language experts and writers, experts in higher education, first-time awards in community service and development studies, as well as music.

“This reflects quality and also diversity, a spectrum of convictions as well as the recognition of persons who played a major role in changing society in the last couple of decades, “ says Prof Frederick Fourie, Rector and Vice-Chancellor of the UFS.

The awards can be grouped in the following categories:

Language and literature:

Mr Karel Schoeman (D Litt (hc)) – well-known Afrikaans author and former student of the UFS. Some of the awards he has received include the Hertzog prize for prose (1970, 1986 and 1995), the CNA prize (1972 and 1994), the Old Mutual prize (1985 and 1991), the SABC prize for best television drama in 1990, the M Net book prize in 1997 and the State President award (former President Nelson Mandela: Order for Excellent Service – silver) in 1999. It is an honor for the UFS to have this gifted and creative person among its former students. This conferment is a fitting recognition of his status as leading South African writer.

Ms Antjie Krog (D Litt (hc)) – well-known South African poet and former student of the UFS. Her popularity as poet is evident in her piercing honesty and unequalled power of expression. Some of the awards she has received include the Eugéne Marais prize in 1973, the Rapport prize in 1987, the Hertzog prize in 1990 and the RAU prize in 2000. Her writing has been translated into seven languages. She has also received numerous honors for her involvement in and journalistic documentation of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s (TRC) proceedings. It is therefore an exceptional privilege for her alma mater to honor her with an honorary doctorate.

Prof Jaap Steyn (D Litt (et phil) (hc)) – recently, Prof Steyn again distinguished himself as biographer whose thorough research is apparent in the published biographies of illustrious writers such as NP van Wyk Louw and MER. The numerous awards, among which the Stals prize from the South African Academy of Science and Art for the Van Wyk publication, are a matter of record. He conducted the research for this great prize-winning work as honorary professor at the UFS.

Prof Jakes Gerwel (D Phil (hc)) – Chancellor of the University of Rhodes and Director of Naspers, Old Mutual, Gold Fields and Brimstone. His doctoral thesis was published in The Netherlands under the title Literatuur en apartheid. Konsepsies van “gekleurdes” in die Afrikaanse roman tot 1948 (1983). He received an honorary doctorate from Clark College ( Atlanta), the City University of New York and Missouri in the USA, the University of the Western Cape, the University of Cape Town, the University of Natal, Rhodes University, the University of Stellenbosch and the University of the Witwatersrand. He is also outstanding professor in the Humanities at the University of the Western Cape, honorary professor in the Humanities at the University of Pretoria, and was the chairman of the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC).

Development Studies:

Dr Frederick van Zyl Slabbert (D Phil (hc)) – for his academic achievements, his endeavors for bringing about a peaceful transition in South Africa and his demonstration of the social investment role of the corporate sector. Dr Van Zyl Slabbert has received honorary degrees from the University of Natal and the Simon Fraser University in Canada. He has published seven books and various academic articles.

Community Service:

Prof Robert G Bringle (D Phil (hc)) – from the Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) in the USA. He is currently Chancellor’s Professor of Psychology and Philanthropic Studies at the IUPUI and also Director of the IUPUI’s Centre for Service Learning. He is honored for his exceptional contribution to several of the UFS’s community service projects as well as his role in the advancement of a multi- and inter-disciplinary approach to academic development and the integration of service learning within the faculties of the UFS. He has also made a valuable contribution to the conceptual framework of the UFS’s unique community service policy and more recently to the advancement of a research culture regarding community service.

Higher education:

Dr Khotso Mokhele (D Phil (hc)), President of the National Research Foundation (NRF) is honored for his contribution to the South African higher education sector. He has also made a substantial contribution to the development of the research capacity of universities and technikons in South Africa. Dr Mokhele was born in Bloemfontein and matriculated at the Moroka High School in Thaba Nchu.

Prof Saleem Badat (D Phil (hc)), the Chief Executive Officer of the Council on Higher Education (CHE). Prof Badat has devoted himself to transforming and building South African higher education, and has constantly challenged the higher education sector to retain the moral basis of higher education and tackle its challenges with intellectual honesty, ingenuity, creativity and courage. He is honored for his intellectual leadership in the development of a equitable, just and quality higher education system in South Africa.

Law:

Prof HA (Boelie) Wessels (D Legum (hc)) – for his contribution to the fields of Roman Law, Legal History at the UFS. He is currently a part-time lecturer at the UFS’s Faculty of Law.

Medicine:

Prof CJC Nel (D Phil (hc) Posthumous) – for the way in which he strived for the advancement of excellent medical education in the country. Prof Nel also did pioneering work in the field of transformation in higher education. Under his guidance the School of Medicine at the UFS became one of the first medical schools to adopt a parallel-medium system of instruction.

Music:

Prof Leo Quayle (D Mus (hc)) – for the significant contributions he has made to the development of music – not only in Bloemfontein, but also on national level and abroad. His initiative, enthusiasm and dedication contributed to the eventual founding of the Free State Musicon, as well as the first symphony orchestra and the first string quartet in Bloemfontein. Prof Quayle is a former head of the Department of Music at the UFS.

Prof Jack de Wet (D Mus (hc)) – well-known for his exceptional contribution to violin tuition in South Africa. As pedagogue of international stature, he still moulds violinists who compete at national and international level. At an advanced stage of his career, he still actively conveys his knowledge, experience and distinctive insight in his field of speciality to yet another new generation of young violin teachers. Today the symphony orchestras in Bloemfontein and Port Elizabeth also stand on the foundations laid by him.

Media release
Issued by: Lacea Loader
Media Representative
Tel: (051) 401-2584
Cell: 083 645 2454
E-mail: loaderl.stg@mail.uovs.ac.za
7 October 2004

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