SA Health Review 2015: Nursing in crisis

Department of health worried about the rising number of Health care workers contracting COVID19: File photo
Attached to the hospital, the new wellness clinic will dispense chronic medications like HIV treatment (File Photo)
By 2010, the health department estimated that the country was short of over 44,700 nurses yet we are only training around 3 500 new nurses a year. (File Photo)

This is according to Wits University’s Professors Laetitia Rispel and Judith Bruce writing in the SA Health Review released last night.

While 133 127 professional nurses are registered with the SA Nursing Council nationally, only slightly more than half (68 105) work in public health. Yet nurses are the backbone of the public health system.

By 2010, the health department estimated that the country was short of over 44,700 nurses yet we are only training around 3 500 new nurses a year.

The shortage has resulted in a rise nursing agencies to provide temporary nurses, which the authors describe as a worrying “casualisation” of the workforce.

Between 2005 and 2010, provinces spent R1.5-billion on agency nurses to supplement shortages. Yet hospital managers reported that agency nurses often provided sub-optimal care to patients, were uncooperative, had poor relationships with doctors and were “reluctant to perform certain nursing interventions”.

The acute shortage of skilled intensive care unit (ICU) nurses meant that these nurses are much more likely to “moonlight” for other institutions than any other category of nurses.

In a survey of over 3 700 nurses, over a quarter (28%) reported that they had “moonlighted” in the past year, with 70 percent saying that they did so because they needed more money.

Over half reported being “too tired to work”, while almost a third – mostly women aged 25 to 34 – planned to quit their jobs within a year.

[quote float = right]…..more nurses are required to work in clinics rather than hospitals yet many report sub-standard working conditions.”

Over four in 10 (43.7%) nurses are over the age of 50, and younger women are less inclined to become nurses.

In addition, as primary healthcare has been prioritised, more nurses are required to work in clinics rather than hospitals yet many report sub-standard working conditions.

Nursing managers at the clinics said staff shortages was one of their biggest problems and it resulted in long waits by patients. This was followed by delayed emergency medical services for patients, and poor infection control linked to interrupted water supply.

In addition, “several layers of bureaucracy” involving the clinic supervisor, area manager and district manager meant that clinic managers did not have decision-making powers.

This “stifled their work environment” and contributed to “a great deal of personal distress”.

The fact that South African Nursing Council “is largely dysfunctional” as a regulatory body and provides “sub-optimal leadership in policy development and implementation”, does not help the plight of nurses.

“Revitalising nursing requires concerted efforts by government and key stakeholders to improve amd modernize resources for a positive work environment,” they conclude. – Health-e News.

An edited version of this story also appeared in The Star newspaper

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2 Comments

  1. I love my profession, being a nurse to care & help the sick people,we put so much effort in our work,we under pressure, demands,unappreciated employers , doctors, patients but still we strive for the best & get unpaid,its so sad to leave our families early in the morning when its still dark & return home when they asleep, yet we dont get acknowledgement for our hard work & dedication, all that im asking for is for government to increase our salaries, employee more staff that is trained to to the job properly and to the people to show some appreciation,thankfulness

  2. As much as I liked my Profession the way nurses are treated in public sectors, is the cause of shortage and the reason to poor service delivery. I think nursing is the only profession that down grade peoples salaries. As much as we want to go back and serve our public,their offers are rediculus, they dont even consider your previous salary. if what I get now is not considered and you’ll be given a salary that will down grade your lifestyle. It’s better for us to remain in non nursing position where we getting a living wage.

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