/ 20 January 2008

Health Dept deploys new nurses across SA

About 2 000 nurses have been deployed to under-served areas across the country since the start of the year, the Department of Health said on Saturday.

In a statement, the department said it will also open additional nursing colleges to increase the supply of nursing staff. ”This is an effort to strengthen nursing services as the backbone of healthcare delivery in the country,” it said.

The nurses will be the last group of health professionals to do community service.

The department said 1 951 nurses who completed the four-year nursing diploma or degree last year have been allocated for their one-year community service in all nine provinces. Another 65 nurses have been allocated to the South African Military Health Service.

A total of 3 826 health professionals, including doctors, dentists and radiographers, have been deployed to various facilities for community service as well as internship programmes.

The department said it also plans to reopen nursing schools and colleges following an audit of all nursing colleges that identified specific needs in different nursing colleges and the challenges they faced.

”The strategy to reopen nursing colleges, coupled with improving salaries of nurse educators by means of the recently approved process of occupational-specific dispensation, is envisaged to attract nurses and nurse educators, in particular, back into the nursing profession.”

Meanwhile, Coronation and Bonalesedi nursing colleges in Gauteng are expected to accommodate at least 250 post-basic nursing students as soon as renovations are completed.

It is expected that more student nurses will be admitted for training once the building of two new structures is completed at Sekhukhune and the Waterberg district in Limpopo.

The KwaZulu-Natal department of health currently has nearly 5 000 nurses in different programmes and plans to increase the number of nursing students doing bridging courses.

The Mpumalanga department of health has increased the number of nursing students by 230 and space has been made available at the Elijah Mango College of Education to train more nurses.

”Increasing the supply of qualified nurses is part of the strategic framework for the human resources health plan launched in 2006. It is expected to impact positively in improving the quality care for the people of South Africa,” said the department. — Sapa