Keetmanshoop student nurses celebrate their day

KEETMANSHOOP, 10 MAY  – Over 180 student nurses on Wednesday marched and conducted community health campaigns at Keetmanshoop to commemorate National Student Nurses’ Day, under the theme ‘Nurses, a voice to lead; health is a human right’.
The group comprised student nurses from the University of Namibia Southern Campus, Keetmanshoop Regional Health Training Centre (KRHTC), health instructors and heads of departments in the regional health sector.
Speaking after the parade, Clinical Instructor and acting head of the KRHTC, Daniel Fleermuys said the primary aim of the day was to reach out to local communities and to promote the culture of unity among nursing students.
“We are all one, we are all nurses, irrespective of where we study and the different qualifications we get after studying. Our aim is to care for the community and to ensure that our community is healthy,” he said.
The students were then divided into six groups to carry out activities such as checking of blood pressure, weight and height measurements, dispensing condoms and giving health information to the public in different areas of the town.
The student nurses stationed at the Ileni informal settlement handed out soup and second-hand clothes to vulnerable children and the community at large.
The group stationed at Woermann Brock shop in Tseiblaagte told Nampa during a visit in the afternoon that they had catered to over 100 people.
Other students manned health points at the community hall in Tseiblaagte and Keetmans Mutual Mall, Pick ‘n Pay and NamPost in the central business area.
In 1998, 08 May was designated as National Student Nurses’ Day and celebrations fall within National Nurses’ Week.
National Student Nurses’ Day is observed as part of the International Council of Nurses’ International Day held since 1965. This day is celebrated on 12 May, the birthday of globally lauded modern nursing pioneer, Florence Nightingale.

NAMPA