Port Shepstone nurse wins national award
The operations manager at the Thuthuzela Care Centre has received a Florence Nightingale Award for Excellence in Nursing.
SISTER Duduzile Ndlovu, the operations manager at the Thuthuzela Care Centre at Port Shepstone Regional Hospital, had a special reason to celebrate International Nurses’ Day on Monday this week.
She was one of six South African nurses who received a 2014 Florence Nightingale Award for Excellence in Nursing. More than 2 000 nominations were received from 335 hospitals around the country.
A fully qualified clinical forensic practitioner who excels at forensics, Sr Ndlovu has a reputation for being an expert witness in the courtroom and is known for her care, compassion and commitment to outreach in her communities. Her passion for helping rape victims came from having been a victim of domestic violence, she said.
“She is one of the best nurses I have ever worked with in 42 years as a medical practitioner,” said her colleague Dr Gerald Baldrey, the head of the department of clinical medicine. He and his colleagues agreed that Sr Ndlovu’s impeccable administration and management skills were a key reason Port Shepstone’s Thuthuzela Care Centre was the best in the province and third best in the country.
This is the fourth year the Florence Nightingale Awards have been held in South Africa. They were launched by specialist skincare brand Bio-Oil in 2011 to pay tribute to the unsung heroes of South African healthcare. The six winners each receive a Florence Nightingale trophy and cash prize of R6 000 sponsored by Bio-Oil.
The winners are always announced on International Nurses Day, which is also the birthday of Florence Nightingale, the ‘mother’ of modern nursing.
“Florence Nightingale’s compassion, sensitivity and belief in quality care for all, changed the way the world viewed nursing. With the Florence Nightingale Awards we honour the nurses who share these qualities,” said Suzette Botha, a spokesman for Bio-Oil and a qualified nurse.
Sr Ndlovu was delighted and surprised to receive the award.
“Never in a million years did I expect to win. You do this work out of passion. You don’t expect to get anything in return,” she said.
