Tekla Shiindi-Mbidi

Over the past days, nursing and midwifery graduands from various institutions of high learning have been taking oath during oath taking ceremonies. Oath-taking is a solemn pronouncement made before a nurse/midwife starts rendering services as a qualified professional – and it is done through a nurse’s pledge to affirm their service to humanity. 

This nurse’s pledge is part of the nurses/midwives’ ethical code of practice. 

An ethical code is a set of actions, usually agreed upon collectively by the members of that profession. 

Ethical codes are developed with the purpose of protecting the public and ensuring that nurses and midwives render service in accordance with the acceptable ethical and professional practice standards to enhance the integrity of the profession and protect the professions good name.

It was in 2005 when I joined this noble profession as a student nurse/midwife that I learnt about Florence Nightingale and the contribution she has made to modern nursing. 

History has it that from a very young age, Florence Nightingale was active in philanthropy, and was ministering to the ill and poor people in the neighbourhood village. 

When she turned 16 years old, it was clear to her that nursing was her calling and she believed it to be her divine purpose. 

Later, she registered to study nursing, and she was thereafter employed as a nurse. 

Her superb performance saw her getting promoted within a year of employment. She was indeed a true testimony to have been called to the nursing profession. 

Unlike Florence Nightingale, who was called to the nursing profession, the author of this opinion piece joined the nursing and midwifery professions because of her curiosity, which later developed into a passion. 

She joined the nursing and midwifery professions because of two main reasons: 1). She was curious and always wondered how babies are born because as she was growing up; she was made to believe that babies are bought from the hospitals; 2). She was curious to see how it looks like inside the mortuary and how the dead bodies are kept in the mortuary. 

So, it was a great excitement for this author when she started the nursing and midwifery training because she finally got to observe a woman giving birth and eventually got to be that passionate midwife to assist women to give birth. 

She also made it inside the mortuary and eventually saw how the bodies are stored. Little did she know that she will find herself escorting bodies to the mortuary during the times when the mortuary attendant was off duty. Just imagine a whole registered nurse/midwife working as a mortuary attendant – this is indeed just one of the many examples of the true realities of some of the nurses and midwives. But what a fulfilling, yet a challenging journey it is been for her.

Most often aspiring nurses and midwives are asked this question: why are you choosing or why did you choose to pursue a career in nursing and midwifery? 

The responses are mostly reflections of personal experiences with nurses or nursing care; others are role modelled by relatives who are or were nurses – some explains that they grew up taking care of family members, others are forced to apply for nursing by their parents and guardians and for some others, they will respond that nursing is a calling, and their understanding is that they were predestined to become nurses. 

But the truth and the reality are that although the calling to nursing was traced to Florence Nightingale, the 20th century has seen nursing moving away from the concept of calling towards the concept of profession. 

In this contemporary society, the concept of a calling is irrelevant for some of the following reasons: 1). For an individual to join the nursing and midwifery education, there is a need to meet the training institutions requirements for the programme, there is a need to invest with resources, including time and money. Are we saying that just because an individual qualifies and they can afford to pay tuition fees they were called to nursing? 

2). There are individuals who lack the attributes necessary to perform the nursing and midwifery roles, but they have successfully completed the nursing and midwifery education. Should these individuals be seen as they were called to the nursing and midwifery profession? 

The process of conceptualising nursing and midwifery, as a calling, as opposed to a profession and passion not only prevents nurses and midwives from advancing in the areas of professional growth and development as well as the competitive remuneration, but it also prevents them from gaining the respect and recognition they deserve. 

My plea is that individuals must join the nursing and midwifery professions from a point of altruism, curiosity and passion as opposed to the belief that they were called to the profession.

 The issue of being called to nursing ended long in the 19th century – and this is a fact!

* Tekla Shiindi-Mbidi is a passionate midwife educator at IUM and a young midwife leader. Her views do not purport to represent the opinion of her employer.