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DENOSA congratulates South Africa's Most Caring Nurse for 2019: Salome Siebritz from Port Elizabeth
Media Alert
The Democratic Nursing Organisation of South Africa (DENOSA) congratulates Salome Siebritz, a nurse from Port Elizabeth, who was unveiled as South Africa's Most Caring Nurse for 2019 at a gala dinner held by DENOSA at the CSIR International Convention Centre in Pretoria on Monday night.
She was handed with the annual Marilyn Lahana Caring Award for her act of selflessness in the course of her work. Administered by DENOSA, the awards are named after Marilyn Lahana, a Johannesburg nurse who, out of her act of selflessness, cared for a patient who had Ebola, and shed contracted the virus. Sadly, she died a few days later.
Salome Siebritz of Cuyler Clinic in Uitenhage was announced an overall winner for going an extra mile in her call of duty.
In April this year, in an act that was unthinkable, which lifted the flag of nursing care, as a renal care nurse with eight years of experience, she voluntarily drove two patients from Port Elizabeth to Cape Town (800 kilometres one way) throughout the night for their kidney transplant at the time when there was no other form of transportation that could ferry the patients within the time that the kidneys were available. This was at night, straight after her 8-hour shift.
She spontaneously offered to drive the two patients using her own car and petrol when she discovered that they was no flight to take the patients to Cape Town for their 08h30 kidney transplant procedure on the following morning. She drove throughout the night to make sure that they were in Cape Town by 08h00 – and they made it in the nick of time.
Sister Siebritz is known by her colleagues and management as always going extra mile for the patients. What she did on that evening may have been an act selflessness, but that was not a surprise from her colleagues, management and the community (patients). The story got provincial and national media coverage, hailing her as a HERO. Her selfless actions changed the negative image of nursing and nurses. She became a game changer in the nursing fraternity.
DENOSA would like to encourage more nurses to identify their colleagues for this award in 2020, as many who work tirelessly still do so unnoticed.
Nurses, particularly in public sector and rural areas, are working under unfavourable conditions, and their hard work and act of selflessness deserves to be acknowledged.
End
Issued by DENOSA
For more information on the nurse, contact:
Khaya Sodidi, DENOSA Eastern Cape Provincial Secretary - 072 573 3315
For more information on the Marilyn Lahana Caring Award, contact:
Kedibone Mdolo, DENOSA Projects Coordinator
Mobile: 072 585 6847
Website: www denosa.org.za
Facebook: DENOSA National Page
Twitter: @DENOSAORG
