Major Nurse Shortage Hits Hospitals
Published: 2016 May 11 04:50:38 (4550 Views)
Critical staff shortage of medical personnel in hospitals has prompted government to revise the nursing staff establishment to 25 000, up from 16 500 nurses currently available in public health institutions, Health and Child Care Minister Dr David Parirenyatwa has said.
In an interview on the sidelines of this year’s International Day of Midwives commemorations held at Mpilo Central Hospital in Bulawayo recently, Dr Parirenyatwa said the revised staff establishment would absorb all the unemployed nurses and there would be room to employ 5 000 more.
He said currently, an estimated 3 500 nurses were unemployed.
The ideal nurse-patient ratio is one nurse per every four patients, but in Zimbabwe one nurse attends to at least 15 patients at any given time, compromising the quality of health services rendered.
The revised nursing establishment, however, does not have a specific number of posts for specialised nurses such as midwives, a situation midwifery tutors described as an injustice to maternal health delivery in the country.
UNFPA country representative Mr Cheikh Tidiane Cisse, who also attended the round table meeting pledged to support the midwives in their quest for recognition in the public health delivery system.
According to the Zimbabwe Nurses Association, the unemployed nurses might need to undergo retraining should they eventually be absorbed into the system lest they lose skills imparted during training.
- Herald
In an interview on the sidelines of this year’s International Day of Midwives commemorations held at Mpilo Central Hospital in Bulawayo recently, Dr Parirenyatwa said the revised staff establishment would absorb all the unemployed nurses and there would be room to employ 5 000 more.
He said currently, an estimated 3 500 nurses were unemployed.
The ideal nurse-patient ratio is one nurse per every four patients, but in Zimbabwe one nurse attends to at least 15 patients at any given time, compromising the quality of health services rendered.
The revised nursing establishment, however, does not have a specific number of posts for specialised nurses such as midwives, a situation midwifery tutors described as an injustice to maternal health delivery in the country.
UNFPA country representative Mr Cheikh Tidiane Cisse, who also attended the round table meeting pledged to support the midwives in their quest for recognition in the public health delivery system.
According to the Zimbabwe Nurses Association, the unemployed nurses might need to undergo retraining should they eventually be absorbed into the system lest they lose skills imparted during training.
- Herald
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