NURSES are the people who deal the most with patients in a hospital, a clinic or in a doctor's room
They work together with doctors and dentists to treat patients.
A nurse will usually advise a doctor about a patient's condition and will also administer any medication a patient requires.
A common myth is that nursing is not a male job. This is a misconception because one of the important things a nurse needs is strength and most men are stronger than women.
When baby Ashleigh Grotius arrived 13 weeks early, weighing only 750g, it was every new mother's worst nightmare. Mom Jacqui sat by the incubator, stroking her daughter's stick-like limbs through a web of tubes, watching the monitors and praying for her survival.
Without the constant vigilance of senior professional nurse Mila Monaheng and others at the Neonatal ICU at Sandton Medi-Clinic, Jacqui doubts her baby would have made it.
She describes the highly trained nurses who sustained her baby through each medical crisis as "miracle workers".
Basics
Men and women known as nursing sisters or registered nurses, earn between R8500 and R10000. Those with many years experience might earn more. In private hospitals benefits include a pension scheme, medical aid and study leave. Senior management get cellphone and car allowances.
Job description
"A team leader in the ward supervises staff allocation, deciding which nurses will work with which patients, depending on the babies' needs and the nurses' skills. She also has independent functions, prescribing investigations when a baby's condition changes, eg she orders X-rays, interprets them and then informs and consults with the doctors. She also performs numerous medical procedures such as putting up a drip or inserting a catheter. When infants arrive prematurely, she receives them in the theatre or the labour ward.
Required studies or experience
To do this work one needs a Senior Certificate (FETC) and a three-year diploma in general nursing from an approved nursing college. Further study is also required.
Mila did a one-year diploma in midwifery followed by a Certificate in Neonatal Intensive Nursing at a university. Four-year degree courses (BCur, BA Cur, BSc Cur) are offered at most university medical schools in South Africa.
Personality types
"You have to be a people's person, offering emotional and psychological support for traumatised parents," Mila says.
You must be emotionally strong to cope with very ill, fragile infants. You need to be able to answer parents' questions with patience, compassion and empathy.
Could you put your feet in someone else's shoes and feel the pressure, the heat, the sweat they feel as their baby's life hangs in the balance? Can you give selflessly?
An average day
Mila starts work at 6.45am when the night staff hands over reports on the babies' progress. She allocates staff according to their skills and knowledge and the patients' needs.
She sends staffing reports and the staff planner to the matron, then she orders feeds from the milk kitchen. All this happens before 8am.
Then the doctor's rounds start.
She draws blood samples from patients, follows up the investigations with the pathology labs, radiologist or surgeons. She tries to ensure that nurses keep continuity with patients for optimal nursing care.
"Babies are so unpredictable. Their conditions change very quickly. It's very stressful. You need to know your baby. A good nurse can often anticipate a crisis and be ready for it," Mila says.
In between, she is responsible for new admissions. At 6.45 pm, she hands over to the night-shift leader and hopes and prays for "her" babies.
The best and worst things about this work
This job takes everything one has: intellect, intuition, heart and soul.
"When a well child goes home, I'm proud of myself," Mila says.
She sometimes wakes up in the middle of the night with an uncanny sense that all is not well.
"Losing a baby is the hardest thing. You form a unique bond with babies. You mother the mothers. When a baby dies, it's like losing your own. Sometimes your best efforts can't save a child," she says.
Baby Ashleigh has been in the unit for 14 weeks. As soon as she is feeding well, she will go home.
Another happy success story, thanks to the professional care and love of sister Mila and her crew.
Mila works miracles
NURSES are the people who deal the most with patients in a hospital, a clinic or in a doctor's room
They work together with doctors and dentists to treat patients.
A nurse will usually advise a doctor about a patient's condition and will also administer any medication a patient requires.
A common myth is that nursing is not a male job. This is a misconception because one of the important things a nurse needs is strength and most men are stronger than women.
When baby Ashleigh Grotius arrived 13 weeks early, weighing only 750g, it was every new mother's worst nightmare. Mom Jacqui sat by the incubator, stroking her daughter's stick-like limbs through a web of tubes, watching the monitors and praying for her survival.
Without the constant vigilance of senior professional nurse Mila Monaheng and others at the Neonatal ICU at Sandton Medi-Clinic, Jacqui doubts her baby would have made it.
She describes the highly trained nurses who sustained her baby through each medical crisis as "miracle workers".
Basics
Men and women known as nursing sisters or registered nurses, earn between R8500 and R10000. Those with many years experience might earn more. In private hospitals benefits include a pension scheme, medical aid and study leave. Senior management get cellphone and car allowances.
Job description
"A team leader in the ward supervises staff allocation, deciding which nurses will work with which patients, depending on the babies' needs and the nurses' skills. She also has independent functions, prescribing investigations when a baby's condition changes, eg she orders X-rays, interprets them and then informs and consults with the doctors. She also performs numerous medical procedures such as putting up a drip or inserting a catheter. When infants arrive prematurely, she receives them in the theatre or the labour ward.
Required studies or experience
To do this work one needs a Senior Certificate (FETC) and a three-year diploma in general nursing from an approved nursing college. Further study is also required.
Mila did a one-year diploma in midwifery followed by a Certificate in Neonatal Intensive Nursing at a university. Four-year degree courses (BCur, BA Cur, BSc Cur) are offered at most university medical schools in South Africa.
Personality types
"You have to be a people's person, offering emotional and psychological support for traumatised parents," Mila says.
You must be emotionally strong to cope with very ill, fragile infants. You need to be able to answer parents' questions with patience, compassion and empathy.
Could you put your feet in someone else's shoes and feel the pressure, the heat, the sweat they feel as their baby's life hangs in the balance? Can you give selflessly?
An average day
Mila starts work at 6.45am when the night staff hands over reports on the babies' progress. She allocates staff according to their skills and knowledge and the patients' needs.
She sends staffing reports and the staff planner to the matron, then she orders feeds from the milk kitchen. All this happens before 8am.
Then the doctor's rounds start.
She draws blood samples from patients, follows up the investigations with the pathology labs, radiologist or surgeons. She tries to ensure that nurses keep continuity with patients for optimal nursing care.
"Babies are so unpredictable. Their conditions change very quickly. It's very stressful. You need to know your baby. A good nurse can often anticipate a crisis and be ready for it," Mila says.
In between, she is responsible for new admissions. At 6.45 pm, she hands over to the night-shift leader and hopes and prays for "her" babies.
The best and worst things about this work
This job takes everything one has: intellect, intuition, heart and soul.
"When a well child goes home, I'm proud of myself," Mila says.
She sometimes wakes up in the middle of the night with an uncanny sense that all is not well.
"Losing a baby is the hardest thing. You form a unique bond with babies. You mother the mothers. When a baby dies, it's like losing your own. Sometimes your best efforts can't save a child," she says.
Baby Ashleigh has been in the unit for 14 weeks. As soon as she is feeding well, she will go home.
Another happy success story, thanks to the professional care and love of sister Mila and her crew.
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