Change the world

04/05/2021

Silindokuhle Kwani, 28, who graduated last week with her second degree in Nursing at Nelson Mandela University (Bachelor of Nursing in Advanced Primary Healthcare), wants to change the mind set of young and future nurses and motivate them to be educated nurses and not just stay at the basic level.

“I want to make a difference and change the view of nursing because there is a stigma attached to being a nurse that is limiting.  I have learnt that education stimulates a person’s thinking capacity and the health service needs more critical thinkers. The more we go through the NQF levels the better the quality of healthcare we will provide to our public” Silindokuhle says.

In addition to her Bachelor of Nursing (undergrad) at Mandela University she also obtained her Postgraduate Diploma in Nursing Education and Postgraduate Diploma in Nursing and Health Service Management, all in four years, and therefore she has all five nursing bars and three specialities.  In future she wants to be part of senior management in the Health Department.  

“This second degree was a challenge because I had to quit my job and go to back to academics full time, while being a full-time mom and having a family to support.  With COVID, it was much more of a challenge because everything got delayed academically.  I started the degree in 2019 and only completed it in 2021, COVID really put us back and challenged us. 

Generally, as nurses, we just want to work and we limit the nursing profession. During my community service year I saw the importance of learning and advancing in nursing.  Nursing is more than just giving out bed pans and calling “next” in the clinics. And it is up to us as young nurses to explore all the avenues the profession has to offer.

I still wanted to work but my interest and focus was more on academics, because I saw the need for learning in nursing, Silindokuhle says.

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Contact information
Ms Elma de Koker
Internal Communication Practitioner
Tel: 041-504 2160
elma.dekoker@mandela.ac.za