NML Issue 9
NMLTT
2021
Protect.
Invest.
Together.
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NURSES AND MIDWIVES AS CRITICAL MEMBERS OF CARE TEAMS: THE CONJOINED TWIN SURGERY: THE CRITICAL ROLE OF NURSES AS PART OF THE CARE TEAM An Interview with Sr Ajilong Jennifer Juliet, Assistant Nursing Officer, Soroti Regional Referral Hospital. The senior Nurse who played a crucial role in ensuring that the conjoined twins’ surgery in March 2021 at Soroti Regional Referral Hospital was successful.
1. Please tell us about yourself? My name is Ajilong Jennifer Juliet. I am an Assistant Nursing Officer. I am a single mother with four children. I love God, and I love my profession. I started as an enrolled nurse obtained from Soroti Nursing School in 1993. I then went on to do my diploma in nursing in Mulago in 2000. I have been working with public service since 1995. I have also worked at nursing training schools as a clinical instructor. I did this in Mbale School of Nurses, during which time I was given an appointment to work at Soroti Hospital. At that time, it was a district hospital. I have worked mainly in theatre but have worked in the medical ward for two years and in Pediatric Ward for six months. I am also the clinical instructor at Soroti Nursing School, and I teach Nursing theory and practice.
2. What drew you to the nursing profession? •
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Several factors drew me to the Nursing Profession. As a young girl, I used to see people getting sick and not getting the help they required. I once got a mother delivering at home, and I helped them. We did not have what to use, but a good Samaritan gave us a blade to use. By God’s Grace, the baby was delivered, wrapped up in clothes, and I asked them to go to the hospital. I had to rush and go to school. This experience tortured me since I did not have the skills required to help. This drew me to become a midwife. I had applied for midwifery and did the interviews. However, when I went to the Soroti school of nursing to find out if I had been taken, I found myself on the list for nursing. I was content with this because it was still in the health profession. Another experience I had was with my uncle, who used to inject us when we were sick when he was not a health professional. I was encouraged to do this so I can also help my family members. However, we still make fun of this when he is sick, and I have to give him any treatment, and he says I am revenging. While in secondary school, I used to see nurses from the nursing school who were very smart in their uniforms. I remember the midwives used to dress in purple. This also encouraged me to join the profession to be as bright as the nurses I had seen. 4
