A young midwife residing in Delft, Cape Town is working hard in the medical field and challenging archaic stereotypes about nursingThe 24-year-old tells Briefly News that while nursing was never her first choice as a career, it was certainly her destiny, with her caring disposition evident even in childhoodGoal-driven Ahlume Mqonci further reflects on her journey in nursing and future aspirations
A young midwife from Delft, Cape Town is working hard to ensure that both she and her family have amazing futures.
Ahlume Mqonci is a midwife from Cape Town. Image: Ahlume Mqonci/Supplied.Source: UGC
Lovely Ahlume Mqonci is a triple threat as a healthcare professional, social media content creator, and fitness guru.
The young woman is a well-known online personality, with her growing YouTube channel loved by many young men and women.
Briefly News caught up with the UWC honours graduate, who opened up about how the field of nursing found her.
Nursing graduate shares journey
Ahlume explains that while nursing wasn’t her first choice for a career, the caring disposition she has reared its head early in her childhood:
“Nursing was never one of my career choices growing up, but thinking back, it’s something I’ve been destined to do.
“Growing up, my grandmother was bedridden and nursing her came naturally. As a kid, I wasn’t expected to nurse her but I had the urge to. I knew, however, that I wanted to be in the medical/health field.”
The 24-year-old notes that she loves how diverse the nursing field is, and while she had always aspired to be a doctor, her love of mentoring others has shifted her focus:
“What I love about nursing is that you can branch out and be anything you want to be, from an advanced midwife, doctor, certified nursing practitioner, travel nurse, and many more.
“My dream has always been to advance and become greatly skilled. Initially, I had wanted to branch out and become a doctor. However, now that I’m a qualified professional nurse, I want to become an advanced midwife and go into teaching.
“I love sharing my knowledge and passion. I realised through having students in the wards I’ve worked with that teaching comes naturally and the students always commend me for that.”
Cape Town nurse challenges stereotypes
Ahlume argues that often people have unfair judgements about nurses, dubbing them as ‘rude’ and uncaring, often without realising the systems in place and immense pressures these healthcare workers are under:
“Another misconception is that nurses do the same [jobs] or nurses don’t do anything. Nursing is a broad profession; you have midwives, psychiatric nurses, public health nurses, ICU nurses, and many more.
“We all do different things in our departments. As a midwife, I take care of antenatals, postnatals, delivery babies, and newborns.
“A psychiatric nurse assesses, diagnosis, and recommends treatments for patients who are mentally ill or unstable. We work in a multidisciplinary team, which includes doctors, physiotherapists, dietitians, physicians, and many more, to provide excellent and organised healthcare.”
Nurse uses YouTube to educate
While her YouTube channel encompasses different types of content, Ahlume also posts about health-related matters, such as how to address a urinary tract infection, contraception, and more. Here’s an example of one of her educational videos:
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The stunner states that while she faces many challenges in her line of work, being financially independent and helping her family has been a great blessing.
We, at Briefly News cannot wait to see how this beautiful, smart young nurse continues to grow and use her voice to empower other women.
Nurse bags PhD
In a related story, Briefly News wrote about a young mom who recently became a Doctor of Philosophy.
The 28-year-old originally undertook the field of academia after she was unable to find sustainable work as a nurse.
Now, Gertie Makhado works as a lecturer and wants to grow as a nursing researcher.
