She started teaching at Muhimbili Diploma School of Nursing from 1979 to 1990. In 1990 she went for Bachelor’s degree in Canada – Nova Scotia and completed successfully in 1992.
She was employed to teach atMuhimbili University of Health &Allied Sciences from 1992 to 2010 when she retired.
During this period apart from teaching various subjects like Paediatric nursing, Basic nursing, Medical- surgical Nursing, Advanced concepts in Nursing and Nursing Ethics
she was also coordinating various programs like MSc. In critical care and trauma,receiving and coordinating the clinical learning experiences for elective students from Norway,
Sweden and the Netherlands collaborating Universities with the School of Nursing 2002- Aug. 2010.
In 2003 – 2006 she was registered as a Distant Learning Masters student with the Department of Public Health and Caring Sciences, Uppsala University,
Sweden and completed successfully in Sept.2006.In 2010 – 2012 April she was employed at IMTU as head of the undergraduate School of Nursing IMTU.1st August,
2012 she wasemployed at CUHAS as a Lecturer at Archbishop Anthony Mayalla School of Nursing (AAMSoN) to date.
Her main responsibilities are teaching in class and in clinical areas and also participating in various administrative and social activities of the university.
She is also the Patron of University Nursing Students UNSATA with effect from June 2016 to date. From July 2017 – Sept. 2018
she has been a counterpart to Global Health services Volunteer working at CUHAS-AAMSoNBugando.
MY JOURNEY IN THE NURSING PROFESSION: A KEY TO OPENING THE GATES OF HEAVEN BY ASTERIA L.M. NDOMBA PhD STUDENT,MSc.N.BScN, RN, DIPL. NE.
Historical Background
My name is Asteria L. M. Ndomba born on 20th August 1950, in the Southern highlands of Tanzania -Njombe. I am a Tanzanian, Ngoni by tribe. I am 69 years old and the 7th child in a family of 10 children. I am married and have 4 biological children; one girl, three boys. The two boys are twins Peter and Paul. I also have two other children whose parents passed away when they were still very young. Their father was my brother. They are all boys; the youngest was 1 1/2 years old and the other boy was 4 years old when their parents passed away. Now the youngest boy has bachelor degree in Procurement and Logistics. The other one is married with two children. He has a secondary education.
My parents managed to send all children to school. My father was a teacher and my mother was a housewife. They were very religious people, kind and welcoming to people who came to visit us. I thank God for giving me these parents who brought me up the way I am today. My parents have passed away; May the Almighty God rest their souls in eternal peace. Amen.
Educational background
My primary education was for 8 years. My parents took me to a primary school which was run by Catholic Sisters in Songea - Chipole. I successfully completed my primary education by passing well the Std. VIII National examination and was chosen to continue with secondary education at Ndanda Secondary School. It was a Co-education school. It was one of the best schools in the country.
Before completion of secondary educationstudents were given Causal forms to fill for their choices of the programs they wanted to continue with. This was the beginning of my journey in the Nursing Profession. I went through the forms and the options which were there. I was not interested in anything else except nursing. I told myself if I do not get it that will be the end of me. Fortunately, when the selection results were out I was selected to join the Muhimbili School of Nursing which is in Dar-es-Salaam. This School was offering an Integrated Nursing Course leading to a registered nurse after a successful completion of the course.
At the Muhimbili School of Nursing
I joined the school in March 1970. The total number of students who were enrolled were 70. The teachers used to call our class “the horrible lot” because there was no year before or after that had such a high number of enrollment. After about two/three months we were given an examination, we all passed except three students who failed and were discontinued. This class excelled very well. Many of the students from this class advanced themselves to Advanced Diploma in Nursing Education, some became Regional & District Nursing officers others now are holders of Masters and PhD degrees.
During my training at Muhimbili School of Nursing our teachers and the clinical staff helped me acquire the competences needed for the provision of quality nursing care to the patients. These competences included cognitive, psychomotor, and affective. I remember the teachers who taught me Basic and Medical Surgical Nursing were so good that made me tend to love the subjects. I was telling myself, I want to be like them. In the clinical areas I was also very intrigued with the way they were handling and caring the patients. Something inside me kept on reminding me that I should always be caring the patient in a compassionate manner and treat the patient as if he/she was my father, mother, brother or very dear friend or the way I would like to be treated myself by a nurse.This socialization in the nursing profession helped me so much in the way I was caring for my patients as a student and even to the present time. I remember in the first year we were mostly dealing with issues of making a safe environment for the patients and meeting the hygienic needs of the patients. I was very happy when I was assigned to clean the sluice room. I made sure that the bedpans, sputum mugs, the urinals, washing dishes and the room itself was scrupulously clean. I was telling myself, “This is the patient’s toilet it must be clean for him or her not to get infection because of my carelessness” Also when I was assigned to give bath to the patient it made me feel good because I made sure the patient’s body was well cleaned- all parts of the patient’s body more so to the mouth and the private parts. While bathing I would be talking to the patient to learn more things about his/her condition and identify other issues which needed immediate attention by my seniors. Reflecting now this was in accordance with what our founder of the nursing profession- Florence Nightingale did when she was caring for the wounded soldiers. She was able to reduce the infection rate of the wounded soldiers from 47% to 2.2% within two weeks of making sure they were kept clean including their environment.
Night shift experiences as a student nurse
The program was organized in such a way that students had also to go on night shift from second year onwards. One of my exciting experiences was when I was in the casualty dept. It was a busy place and it is here that I learned a lot about team work. Doctors, nurses and the student nurses were like one and respected each other. The doctor on call who is now a specialist in surgery taught me how to suture patients who had cut wounds. I did it so well and later during my midwifery course when I got a woman who had an episiotomy I did not find it a problem. Adherence to aseptic technique and kindness during this procedure were my guiding principles. Compassionate care is what is required of a professional nurse. This is what I learned here regardless in what condition the patient was in, as a nurse you need to care for him. That is why in the nursing profession one learns that you need to take care of the patient regardless of his/her economic status, race, tribe, or religious orientation. What is important is to provide quality care which is holistic and individualized.
My night shift experience was not without challenges. I remember one day while I was on night shift in the cancer ward at the Cancer institute at Ocean Road Hospital in Dar-es-Salaam; after making sure the patients were made comfortable for the night’s sleep at around 2.00 am I felt very sleepy. So I had to gather some sheets from the store room and went to hide myself somewhere in the ward to get a nap. Hardly an hour passed when the night supervisor came and found me there. She scolded me “saying what kind of a nurse are you?” That was my first and last time to do such a thing throughout my life as a nurse. So when I was on night shift after making sure everything was done and the patients were asleep I would be saying my prayers and making rounds to check if everything was o.k. with my patients. In that way I was always awake until morning. This had been my routine throughout my nursing career when I was on night shift. So no patient missed her medication for those who were on 6 hourly medication; they got their medication on time. Those who were on special observations like checking of vital signs, or were on I.V. infusion/transfusion were looked after very well. In the morning I felt good inside my heart because I was able to fulfill my obligations well. I remember one day I heard patients say, “We are really happy when this student nurse is on night shift”.
