A calling to nursing

Swartklip – Jacqueline Gomolemo Phiri celebrated her graduation as professional nurse during a prestigious ceremony on Saturday 31 October.

Jacqueline was born on 27 October 1995 in Moruleng village and is the first-born child of Frans and Amanda Phiri. She was raised Mmantsere village and relocated in 2003 to Swartklip. She attended Laerskool Platina and achieved 100% attendance as well as certificates for diligence, obedience, and hard work.

In 2009 she started Grade 8 at Grenville High School in Rustenburg which meant starting the day at 04:00 am to catch the Thaba-Trans bus to school. She reached home at 16:00 which did not allow for extra-curricular activities and helped her to focus on academics. She matriculated in 2014 with a bachelor’s degree pass but was disappointed as she was not admitted to study nursing.

“I told myself that I was not going to choose any course just to study and decided to apply again the next year,” Jacqueline said in an interview with Platinum Bushvelder.

To pass the time productively she did a short course at Mankwe Ambulance Training Centre in Rustenburg and was awarded the top-achiever certificate and completed the course in record time. Jacqueline said: “I felt that it was a great achievement but always told myself that I need at least a diploma or degree in the academic field.”

Her dream call from the Tshwane University of Technology finally came when she was accepted to study BTech: Nursing Science. “The day I started attending the lectures, I told myself that this is an opportunity that deserves  a great outcome and my dad always said that what you start you must finish.”

This belief stayed with her through the years and helped her excel in community nursing, psychiatric nursing, and midwifery. Her BTech degree certifies that she is a professional nurse able to work with mental health patients and can assist women through their pregnancies and labour as well as practice independently in a clinic.

At the beginning of January 2020 Jacqueline started her dream job working as a commserve professional nurse at Madibe a Makgabana clinic in the Mahikeng sub-district of the North West province.