Hello, I'm Dr. Janet Bell. I'm the program coordinator for the Bachelor of Nursing
and Midwifery program that is offered by the Department of Nursing and Midwifery
in the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences at Stellenbosch University.
The Bachelor of Nursing Midwifery program has been offered since January 2019. Once the department
was accredited by the South African nursing council to do so within the framework of the regulation R.174
Currently, we have about 147 students registered in the program across years 1 to 3
and each one of these students is a dynamic, passionate and unique individual focused
on the goal of becoming a professional nurse and midwife while thoroughly enjoying being a student at the same time.
The end of 2022 is going to be a very special moment in time for all of us involved
in the program, as this is when our first cohort of students will graduate from the program, the
first group of undergraduate nursing students to graduate from Stellenbosch University since 2007.
In our department, we believe that Nursing and Midwifery begins in the depth and the
breadth of a person becoming and then being a nurse and midwife.
We believe that being a nurse and midwife is grounded in the humaneness shared by all people,
and this underpins all our programs, as well as our interactions with each other
and our students, whether in a learning space, the clinical space, or a private space.
In addition to the Bachelor of Nursing and Midwifery, we offer postgraduate
programs in various clinical Nursing and Midwifery specialization disciplines,
master's and doctoral programs as well as short courses.
This Bachelor of Nursing and Midwifery is grounded in our graduate attributes of a Neophyte Nurse and Midwife,
and underpinned by specific key guiding principles in order to craft an offer a program that supports a person
to become a contemporary future able, confident, capable individual in nursing and midwifery,
who is able to hold a person and their humaneness central to any care interaction
with careful consideration of who South Africa needs as nurses and midwives and our health system,
how they should be, as well as what they must be able to do.
We aspire to guide and support you in becoming a professional nurse and midwife
who practices Person Centered Care by assimilating
values, behaviours, discipline, knowledge and clinical skill through being an advocate,
a collaborator, a leader, a professional, a scholar, and a communicator.
These are the graduate attributes that we aspire to achieve to the breadth and the substance of the program.
The graduate attributes are then supported with these key guiding principles of person, St. Agnes,
and rural and community orientation through the program interprofessional collaborative and
transformative learning experiences, Holistic Health focus across the lifespan, care that
is informed by context, values guided behavior, future aware innovation and research mindedness.
Together with the graduate attributes, these key guiding principles provide the scaffold to our
teaching' student learning, curriculum content, clinical exposure and caring practice across the four years of this program.
So within this scaffold that I spoke of now, the Bachelor of Nursing and Midwifery is a four year professional degree program.
With the purpose of educating you to develop the comprehensive
Nursing and Midwifery knowledge, skills and capabilities you need to be a good nurse and midwife.
Successful completion of this program will enable you to register as a professional nurse and midwife
with the South African Nursing Council - once you have completed one year of community service after graduating.
The program is presented on the Tygerberg campus and the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences
offers your vibrant and dynamic community to become part of as a student.
The students on our campus take their studies very seriously,
but equally take the business of being a student very seriously.
And there are many cultural, sporting, social and other non-academic activities, societies
and facilities that are on offer for you to join and use.
Besides well equipped lecture venues, we have a state of the art library,
modern computer areas and multiple laboratories including simulation and clinical skills units,
all of which are available to you and you will use during the course of your studies.
We also have a student centered administration division on our campus
that is staffed with people who are able to assist you with any of your queries
around funding, registrations, student housing, or similar queries on our campus.
Through this specific module that combined to form this program, learning begins in your first year
with a person centered health and wellness orientation.
This focus is concerned with your understanding of health in your own life, as well as you developing a more comprehensive
understanding of these concepts so that you can support a person and a community in maintaining their own health and wellbeing.
In the second year, you're learning moves to the primary care context,
and you will focus on learning to craft and implement needs driven primary care with the personal community,
who can mostly manage their own health, but require some assistance and guidance
from a nurse or midwife for a care need that they may have developed.
The third year follows a health service trajectory into secondary and tertiary care environments, such as hospitals.
And here you will learn how to craft and provide care for people who are mostly unable to meet
their own health care needs, and who have been admitted into a health care facility.
During this year you will also focus on mental health nursing,
as well as uncomplicated maternal and newborn care.
In the final year, your fourth year,
you will deepen and apply your learning to craft and implement caring practice that is person centered,
comprehensive and integrated across very disciplines and contexts.
There's a specific focus on complicated maternal and newborn care,
as well as global health and health promotion.
The program includes modules in human anatomy and physiology, biochemistry and biophysics,
microbiology, psychosocial care, pharmacology, as well as clinical communication in isiXhosa and Afrikaans.
These modules complement the Nursing and Midwifery specific modules,
where you will develop and apply the knowledge and skills and capabilities of good caring practice
through the various disciplines and areas, which include general nursing, mental health, as well as midwifery.
Amongst many other clinical capabilities you will learn and embed in your practice over the four years.
In your first year you will learn how to do a health assessment,
you will measure and respond to a person's vital signs, practice good Infection Prevention and Control
- including correct hand washing - as well as identify and limit risks in a health care environment.
You will learn to interrogate your own health practices, learn about professional identity,
consider how you live in a world and explore the art and science of reflection right from the beginning of the program.
We use a blended learning approach that combines self directed learning, online and in person classes,
clinical simulation sessions, and clinical practice exposure throughout the program,
all of which are supported by educational, technical and administrative services that are available to assist you if need be.
You can expect to work hard and you'll need to work consistently in order to manage both the theory
as well as the clinic clinical learning expectations in order to achieve the learning outcomes of the program.
You're going to need to be open to learning different ways of learning.
As you're going to be challenged to develop your capabilities and critical thinking, problem solving and care crafting.
You will also meet and work with people from all walks of life.
People who speak different languages to you, who come from very different cultures,
race groups and gender orientation to you.
You will learn how to work with a person and community
in a sensitive and Person Centered way across the many different layers and levels of their lives.
You will grow a sound sense of who you are as a person and who you are as a nurse and midwife.
These are all exciting opportunities, but perhaps do sound a little daunting. Remember, though,
that you have a group of passionate and dynamic lecturers who are there to support you.
And you will become part of a caring community of nursing students who understand this journey
as you go through the ups and downs of learning in this program.
Currently, these are the application requirements for the Bachelor of Nursing and Midwifery program,
national senior certificate with university exemption as well as mathematics and Life Sciences.
Please note that this is a selection program, and we accept a maximum of 50 students into the program each year.
Each year we do have a large number of applications so it is a very competitive program to get into.
You can access the specific application information on the Stellenbosch University website,
and I suggest you read and revisit the information for prospective students
under the 'Students' tab on the Home-page to ensure that you have the most up to date information
about the program's application and selection requirements as well as processes,
as this information does change from time to time.
You are welcome to contact me with any program specific questions on jbell@sun.ac.za
Direct any queries you may have related to application process, funding, student housing, or similar administrative
or logistical queries directly those to people identified under the students tab on the Stellenbosch University homepage.
In closing, the profession of nursing and midwifery offers you the opportunity to work
in many different environments, from caring for the person at their side, to managing healthcare services,
to teaching, to research, to policy making, and even politics.
You can traverse workspaces and travel the world as a nurse and midwife.
Being a nurse and midwife requires that you connect with people when they are at their most vulnerable and seeking care.
And as a nurse and midwife, you have the profound responsibility and deep privilege of gently holding
these people safely in your knowledge and your capabilities as they move towards life, health or a dignified death.
If this is how you see yourself in your future, think about applying for the Bachelor of Nursing and Midwifery program.
Take care. Thank you.