Sr Ndungane’s Journey from Becoming a Nurse By Accident to an Emergency Hero

Photo Credit: Heroes of Groote Schuur via Facebook

She didn’t always know she’d become a nurse, but for the thousands of patients she saved over the last 32 years, Sister Tandiswa Ndungane was exactly who they needed.

Cape Town, South Africa (26 April 2026) – Sister Tandiswa Ndungane has spent over three decades putting the needs of trauma patients first.

Her last eight years have been spent at Groote Schuur Hospital as an Assistant Nursing Manager; there, she has become a pillar of the Trauma & Emergency Unit and a genuine hero to everyone in the Emergency Centre.

“I’d been at lots of places before. My first hospital role in the Western Cape was in Worcester, but then I had to move closer to Cape Town because my husband’s work was here, and it was a bit too much for him to drive into the city every day. And fortunately, in terms of me looking for a new role, it just came together, and thanks to God, this post of Assistant Manager in the ICU was available for me,” she shares.

Sr Ngungane has been working in the ICU for her whole life of nursing.

“I love the rush, and I love having to think on my feet. Things change fast, and there are lots of challenges. You have to have courage to work in this environment, but you must also have patience because we are the entrance of the hospital.”

She also credits the support of the team members in the other areas – like medical wards, surgical wards and theatre ICUs – where patients are referred to from the Trauma & Emergency Unit.

Interestingly, Sr Ndungane didn’t always know she’d become a nurse.

“Although I’m now a nurse in and out, I ended up being one almost by accident. When I finished matric, I didn’t go straight into studying because I felt like I needed a break, but my mother suggested I go and see if there were any opportunities for work at a local hospital. At first, the woman in charge said there wasn’t anything available, but then she called me back for an interview. So that’s how I started,” she says.

Now over three decades later, she looks ahead to the bittersweet phase of a lifelong career: her retirement.

“The fact that I am retiring after 32 years of nursing is bittersweet, but the fact that I’m going back to my family is something I am happy about.”

But even though she will be hanging her clipboard up at Groote Schuur, Sr Ndungane is still very much determined to continue healing and saving lives.

“I’m going back to KwaZulu-Natal, where my husband is, and one of the things I’m planning to do is to open a small clinic. You know us nurses – once a nurse, always a nurse. We have to do something, we can’t sit still.”

Sr Ndungane is excited for the future, but in the same breath admits that she will miss her Groote Schuur family dearly.

“I’m going to miss it here. My staff are like my own kids. Some of them are worried about my departure, but I say, ‘Don’t worry, God will raise another me in another form’.”

As she begins this new chapter, we wish Sister Ndungane the very best. While her formal retirement draws near, we are hopeful her healing touch will continue to transform lives in the communities she serves next