Knysna nurses among the best
KNYSNA - Two professional nurses from Knysna, Joan Stander and Anastacia Mokwatlo, were recently rewarded for the hard work that they put in on a daily basis. Stander finished second runner-up in her category, while Mokwatlo returned home with top honours in hers at the annual Cecilia Mwakiwane Nursing Awards.
"I call you the breadwinners of the health system. Without nurses and midwives, there would be no health services," said Provincial Health Minister Dr Nomafrench Mbombo at the awards ceremony held in Cape Town on 24 November.
Extraordinary people
The awards, named after Cecilia Makiwane who was the first registered professional black nurse in South Africa, provides the Western Cape Government Health and Wellness an opportunity to recognise the tireless work done by its nurses and reward those nurses who walk the extra mile with their patients and embodies the calling of what it means to be a nurse.
"We are celebrating quite extraordinary people," said head of department Dr Keith Cloete, "but if I know them, the last thing they would want is to be made a fuss about, and therein lies the beauty of recognising people that spend their lives in the service of others. All the wonderful contributions you make are noticed and we take a moment to say thank you."
Zee Brickles, district director of health services: Garden Route and Central Karoo, said they are immensely proud of their staff, the nominees as well as the announced winners. "This is how heroes show up! You are not only representing your professions in this absolutely phenomenal manner, but you are representing Rural Health Service, the Department of Health and Wellness Western Cape and service to humankind as a whole. Continue to lead by example and prosper in the areas where you practise your commitment and service to our people. We appreciate you," he said.
Joan Stander
Stander was the second runner-up in the Community Nursing and Primary Healthcare category. "As a nurse I can make a real difference in the lives of the people in my community," she said. "Whether I am giving a service or simply listening to my patients, I can make a difference. I admire the saying: 'make the change you want to see in this world.' That is what I am striving for."
Anastasia Mokwatlo
Mokwatlo won the Leadership and Management Nursing category. "I am not a nurse by default. It is a calling. In 2000, I was assigned to the maternity ward as a freshly qualified nurse," she said. "A woman arrived fully dilated and delivered a baby girl, but the doctors saw that the lungs were not fully matured and predicted that the baby would not survive. I took the baby and placed her in an incubator on oxygen. The baby left the hospital alive, and the mother named the child after me. I crossed paths with them 16 years later."
The Knysna duo are but half of the Garden Route team that excelled at the awards. Justin Coetzee from Oudtshoorn Hospital won the category for General Nursing, while Averill Ntoni from George Hospital was the second runner-up for the category Speciality Nursing.