Nurses still face challenges
Nnasaretha Kgamanyane | Wednesday May 27, 2015 16:00
Speaking during the Botswana International Nursing Conference (BINC) stakeholders’ briefing recently, Mokgethi said though their profession was one of the largest and most essential components of health, a number of challenges impeded nurses from efficiently delivering quality services.
“Amongst these challenges are low wages, shortage of nurses, lack of resources like transport and equipment,” she said.
Mokgethi explained that those challenges put a lot of pressure on the few available nurses and inevitably lead to stress and dissatisfaction.
However, she applauded the government for its efforts to improve working conditions though there was still more to be done before delivery of quality health services to Batswana could be realised.
“There is no doubt that very little can be achieved in the health sector without the input of the government as the main health care provider,” she said.
She emphasised the need for resources channelled towards training, more nurses and competitive salaries to attract and retain talent. Mokgethi added that they needed to encourage more research within the sector.
She said they would also benchmark with other nations across the globe to ensure and maintain world standards.
Furthermore, Mokgethi said the upcoming international conference was going to attract nurses, healthcare workers, academics, research institutions and world acclaimed health organisations from all over the globe.
She said that the objective of the conference was formed around the nursing pillars of education, practice and socio-economic welfare.
The conference was held under the theme ‘Efficient And Effective Nursing Through Evidenced Informed Practice: A Key To Improved Customer Care’ from November 4 to 6, 2015’.