A male nurse with passion
Bheki was the youngest male nurse to apply for the post at the Clinix Hospital Groups’s head office.
Bheki Hadebe plans to change people’s perceptions about male nurses.
“Men are always seen as macho, rough, tough and aggressive in just about everything they do. Not many people easily associate men with caring, tenderness and love, especially towards the sick. I want to change all that,” says 31-year-old male nurse Bheki, who is currently in infection control at Clinix-Botshelong Hospital in Vosloorus.
Currently studying through Wits to further his nursing and infectious-disease-control qualifications, the small-framed Bheki told Kathorus MAIL about his love for nursing and caring for the frail and sick.
Born in Grobbersdaal, Mpumalanga in 1984, where he started his schooling, he completed his tertiary education at the Vaal Technicon while living with his father in Vosloorus.
Bheki was the youngest male nurse to apply for the post at the Clinix Hospital Groups’s head office. When he was finally employed, he became the youngest male member of the hospital’s nursing team.
“But that instead inspired me to want to learn even further about my chosen career,” explained the likable young male nurse, who wants to become an expert in disease-infection control.
Already, Bheki has earned himself an array of colourful accolades from scores of patients in the hospital’s cardiac ward. One of them is local councillor Nolwazi Nkonyana of Ward 46, who still remains Bheki’s favourite friend and fan after he nursed her back to health. “I respect him for his commitment and dedication to his profession as a nurse. He saved my life,” said Nkonyana.
Asked to give his advice to young men in the townships about taking up nursing as a career, Bheki said it has made him a more caring person. “Young men have an important role to play in the nursing profession. They just need to stop suppressing their compassion and caring nature towards the sick, especially children,” said Bheki
Bheki, who neither smokes nor drinks, advised parents to encourage their sons to refrain from bad habits, such as drinking and smoking, violence and aggression. “Some people would describe this as being cowardly, but it can also build your character and improve your relationship with other people,” Bheki explained.
