The undergraduate nursing and midwifery programme at Stellenbosch University (SU) has reintroduced the placement of third-year students in clinical environments for the first time since 2007.
This was according to Dr Janet Bell, a lecturer for the nursing and midwifery department at SU. These are the first third-year students to receive placements in hospitals and clinics since the undergraduate nursing and midwifery programme was reinstated in 2019. The students began their clinical rotations in and around Stellenbosch on 22 February, according to Bell.
Stellenbosch University nursing and midwifery students stand outside Stellenbosch Hospital. From left to right: Jenna-Mari Michau, Christelle Leeuw, Lara Fourie and Mika Marnitz. PHOTO: Supplied/Christelle Leeuw
“We had a postgraduate programme, but no undergraduate presence from 2007. Nursing was missing until 2019,” said Bell. Bell explained that due to the nursing degree being transferred to the University of the Western Cape (UWC) in 2007, there was a lack of nurses in the SU faculty of medicine and health sciences (FMHS).
Students and staff of the nursing and midwifery programme were excited to send high-quality nurses into the clinical world again, according to Dr Talita Van Schalkwyk, a lecturer and coordinator of clinical placements for nursing undergraduates at SU.
“It’s an amazing thing to have our students as the pioneers of the new programme. It’s not just great for SU but for the whole country. It’s the first cohort, since 2007, of registered nurses that will be graduating at the end of 2022,” said Van Schalkwyk.
The fields of nursing and midwifery have always been overlooked and underappreciated within the world of medicine, according to Bell. The reintroduction of the undergraduate programme in 2019 aimed to reset that rhetoric, while highlighting the importance of nurses and midwives, she added.
“It is quite an invisible profession for something so important. You only feel and see what nursing does when it’s not there,” said Bell. “For South Africa and the world, we need really good nurses and midwives. We need leaders in nursing and midwifery.”
Christelle Leeuw (left) and Lara Fourie (right) embrace their clinical facilitator, Amelia Grootboom (middle), outside Kayamandi Clinic. PHOTO: Supplied/Christelle Leeuw
Since the students began working in clinical fields, their understanding of the importance of nursing and midwifery has grown significantly, according to Christelle Leeuw, a third-year nursing student at SU.
“I feel motivated to finish my degree, and want to try and make a change where I can in a system that is not necessarily optimal,” said Leeuw. “It can be daunting going into such a broken system that’s been around for so long, but it’s also motivating.”
The students have approached their new responsibilities optimistically, despite the difficulties, according to Bell.
Christelle Leeuw speaks about her love for nursing, as well as the importance of nurses as the first line of defence and care for patients.