Siphesihle Delani Hlophe
Nominee's Province:
Kwazulu-natal
Age:
34
Project Name/Description:
For someone who had nursing as his second option when applying for university courses, Siphesihle has risen through the ranks to become a healthcare leader and advocate. His experience has taken him from the frontlines of government hospital patient care to now finding himself working internationally in Saudi Arabia as a nursing supervisor at the King Salman Specialised Hospital. Despite the distance, the KZN-born nursing professional is still working hard to advance the training and reputation of South African nurses through his own studies. Siphesihle initially did his master’s research into the effects that HIV deaths had on surviving families. He is now set to graduate with his PhD from the Durban University of Technology later this year after his research into how nurses can better respond to gender-based violence (GBV) at the frontlines of patient care was accepted. “I live by [the adage] ‘Imfundo umshado ongena divorce’ (Education is a marriage without divorce).” “I want to advocate for nursing education to better equip nursing students to assist in GBV incidents, and in doing so to also help victims. “Nurses are not trained to fill in the police J88 form or take rape specimens. If you think about the fact that South Africa is number one in the world for GBV incidents, then you understand the impact on the healthcare system.”
