Sisters graduate and continue nursing legacy

Their mother was once a nurse and now sisters Sofia Dinavuka Tubuka and Mareta Korovou can follow in mum’s footsteps.

The sisters celebrated yesterday after graduating with a Bachelor in Nursing Science from the Sangam College of Nursing and Health Care Education. The celebration was special for Ms Tubuka who received the Overall Academic Excellence Award at the ceremony held at the Sangam Hall in Suva.

“I had already done my Diploma in Nursing from the Fiji National University back in 2013 and I wanted to upgrade my qualifications,” she said.

The 27-year-old, originally from Lakeba, is currently working as a nurse at the Labasa Hospital. She said finding balance between her studies, the demands of her work as a nurse and raising her five-year-old daughter has been quite the ordeal.

“It was challenging because there was a long lapse and then I went back to studying and I was working in the post-natal department so there was shift work,” she said.

“So most of the time I have to come back from night shift then attended classes, but I was so lucky I had my sister with me so most of the time we studied together and did our presentations together.”

Her older sister Ms Korovou is a nurse at the Savusavu Hospital. She said during her days off she would travel to Labasa and study together. Their mother, Torika Tubuka, is a retired nurse while their father Viliame Tubuka is a retired school teacher.