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Honouring nurses as frontline workers in the fight against
COVID-19
Dr Phumelele Jabulisiwe Kunene
While legend has it that the “once and future” King
Arthur will come back from his resting place, Avalon,
to save Britain from whatever threatens it, the world’s
“once and present” – our beloved nurses – are saving
lives now, as you read these lines. These frontline
workers have risen to the challenge and are tackling
COVID-19 head-on. If it were not for them, the
story being told about the pandemic would be even
gloomier. The efforts of these essential workers have
been recognised not only by the WHO but by our own
Mangosuthu University of Technology.
According to the Senior Director of the Department
of Marketing and Communications, Mbali Mkhize,
the University will recognise nurses in two ways: “We
will host a public lecture dedicated to the nursing
profession. The department has also decided to
profile a couple of the nurses. We know that many
nurses have contributed to the profession, but we
couldn’t write about all of them,” said Mbali. “We also
acknowledge that there are also male nurses, and that
their role in this field is just as important,” she added.
The three nurses that we feature in this edition are
our own former colleagues, Martha Buthelezi and
Nontando Duma, as well as Dr Phumelele Jabulisiwe
Kunene. Combined, these retired nurses have given
over 100 years of dedicated service to the nursing
profession, and their stories are deeply inspiring.