Honouring healthcare workers during their toughest fight
"Just as a soldier wouldn’t run away from the battle, I won’t abandon my patients in their hour of need." - Sr Fikile Tsekiso.
FACED with mental stress, physical exhaustion, separation from families, stigma and the pain of losing patients and colleagues, healthcare workers have bared the brunt in the fight against Covid-19.
One such healthcare professional, who wears her uniform with pride every day, despite all odds, is Sister Fikile Tsekiso, manager of Bluff Clinic. Sharing her experience of the ‘new normal’, she said Covid-19 has been very challenging, especially for the clinic staff.
“They have had high levels of anxiety as well as panic attacks. There are precautionary measures for staff and the clients visiting the clinic to make sure that everyone is safe. However, implementing these measures requires a willingness to cooperate and an understanding of the threat at hand from all parties involved.
“For example, the wearing of a mask is a widely known safety precaution, but you will still find people wanting to enter the clinic without one. Some clients didn’t even come to the clinic to collect their medication because they were too scared. Social distancing and the other additional precautionary measures have increased our responsibilities as well as increased the waiting time for patients, which brings added frustration,” she said.
She shared that some of her staff members have also fallen sick. “When they aren’t well, they need to go recuperate at home. That means we have a shortage of staff. If they have flu-like symptoms they need to self-isolate and only return when they are fit to work. We also have an outreach team which goes out into the community to trace people who have been exposed to Covid-19, making the clinic staff attendance even shorter. I think everyone needs to understand that staff are also human beings and they are having it hard from all angles,” said Tsekiso, highlighting the huge stress that Covid-19 has had on the running of the clinic.
Be that as it may, the mother of two is still very passionate about her work, which she has dedicated years of training and education to.
“I’m very passionate about what I do. I knew I wanted to be a nurse when I was four years old. I would see nurses wearing their uniform with pride and I knew from a very young age that’s what I was called to do. I took a nurses pledge years ago and I’m committed to fulfilling it with dignity. There is no running away. Just as a soldier wouldn’t run away from the battle, I won’t abandon my patients in their hour of need,” she said, adding that staff unity keeps her going when the times get tough.
She took up the position of clinic manager at Bluff Clinic in 2016 after working at several clinics and hospitals in and around Durban. “I love working here. I receive so much support from councillor JP Prinsloo and the Ward 66 Clinic Committee. They are very active and responsive to whatever needs or challenges there may be here at the clinic, from staffing issues, public complaints or assistance with building maintenance. The objective of the committee is to support the clinic and the community, and they do just that and even go the extra mile.
“We assure the community that we have all safety measures in place and ask that people work with us at this trying time in preventing the spread of Covid-19 by following all the hygiene and safety protocols. Keep your appointments, prioritise your health. People must not be scared, we are here for them and we are willing to help them.”
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