Beatrix Callard was born in Windhoek, Namibia. After working in the fields of office administration and asset management, she changed her career direction and graduated from the University of Namibia with a Diploma in Comprehensive Nursing and Midwifery.  After working in the Prem Unit for a time, she was awarded an African Paediatric Fellowship (APFP) Bursary and was able to pursue a Postgraduate Diploma in Critical Care Child Nursing (2012) at UCT.  After her return to Namibia, she was asked to lead the Prem Unit, in the Maternity Department at the Windhoek Central Hospital.  Beatrix managed the Maternity Department for the last three years with two of her colleagues.

In this position she actively lobbied for CNPDI assistance to better understand current practice and care of newborns in this large central Hospital. Committed to improved outcomes for newborns, she also facilitated the initial conversations with the Namibian Ministry of Health and the International University of Management, that has now led the design and accreditation of the first paediatric nursing training in Namibia, starting in January 2019.

Beatrix meanwhile started the MNCN course at the beginning of 2017, again as an APFP Fellow. Beatrix has learnt a lot in the past two years and feels as though she will be able to take back a new set of tools and understanding to her previous post in the Maternity Unit at Windhoek Central Hospital in Namibia. For Beatrix, the MNCN course at UCT has both been a challenging and rewarding experience – believing that the thorough process of the modules in the course have given her a better understanding of her role as a Paediatric Advanced Practice Nurse.

She will return to her post in Namibia and seek entry points and opportunities for her new set of skills to be effectively utilised within her setting. In order to do this, Beatrix realises that she needs to connect with people on the ground and encourage them to own the work that they need to do in order to effect positive change. She believes that finding the common ground between what needs to be changed and what can be changed, as well as a different mind-set and selecting evidence to support what you’re doing will help in the process of leading practice change in any setting.