Nurses shirk multiple duties, health system trembles

IKE VAVI
Correspondent | Friday October 15, 2010 00:00

This action has within a few days caused more pain and suffering and left the beneficiaries of these non-nursing duties panic-stricken and disappointed.

Nyalalani Moipolai maintains that 'this issue of the nurses has to be resolved as soon as possible. If there was anybody who doubted the nurses' role and importance, in so far as our public health system is concerned, they have to come to their senses and realise that without the nurses, our health system will be in ruins,' she says.

She continues that the situation is not helped by the fact that there is a severe shortage of doctors in the country.'The nurse's resolve to do what is strictly their core nursing duties will adversely affect the health care delivery system and cost the nation dearly,' she laments. She argues that: 'It must be realised that in most rural areas, these poor nurses are single handedly running these clinics. This therefore means that they act as  nurse, doctor, counsellor and pharmacist. Denying this naked truth will not help us. Let their employer accept this reality and reward them handsomely before the nation suffers further'.

Petit Ramogwana is also concerned. 'What we have experienced in the last few weeks should be enough to convince anybody that one neglects nurses at their own peril. 'The events that unfolded in terms of service delivery in these last weeks in various health facilities have proved that the nurses are indeed the cornerstone of the health care system. 'Some of us could not even get our medication because the pharmacists were not available. We were forced to move from one health facility to the next looking for help,' she says. Though she is disappointed at the nurses' decision to withdraw their labour, she understands their frustration. 'It must be acknowledged that nurses have been doing this 'voluntary' exercise for a long time. Many of us begin to realise and know the real difference between a nurse and a doctor today.

'We are used to meeting nurses when we visit our health facilities especially in the rural areas. They have for a very long time been our doctors,' She says.

'There is no point in them performing these duties when the doctors are getting higher salaries and allowances for such duties. Why then do we expect them to carry out such duties for free? We must acknowledge that they are indeed being over-worked through such duties and responsibilities that are not theirs,' she reasons. A nurse, who preferred anonymity, pointed out that: 'Credit must be given to the designers of the curriculum for nurses, especially for the general nursing students. The curriculum has been designed such that it prepares the nurse to operate in an environment where there is no medical doctor,' he says.

He highlights the fact that the curriculum for general nursing covers a wide range of fields. 'These include Pharmacology, blood collection, community health nursing that one way or the other prepares a nurse for other roles that may be viewed as non-nursing duties,' he discloses. He argues that this explains why the nurses all along have been performing these functions very well.

'This is why we have been able to carry out these roles very well because our training was aimed at the health situation that is prevailing in our country.  'We understood that we were operating in a set up characterised by an acute shortage of medical doctors. This forced us to be more patriotic and continue to do some of these non- nursing duties for free,' he reasons. He says what frustrated them and forced them to have a sudden change of heart in terms of doing these duties is when those areas were designated as specialist areas.  'People engaged to perform those functions are even paid allowances in some instances. We therefore feel that we can no longer do those duties for free because they are not part of our duties. They have to be done by those who are being handsomely rewarded for them. We cannot afford to continue to do them for 'charity' when it is another person's job. Anyone who expects us to do those duties should be prepared to reward us,' he argues.

He appealed to the nation to understand and appreciate their concerns. 'The public should not label us as heartless people. We are merely trying to correct the anomaly that has all along been treated and accepted as a normal way of doing things. Let the public bear with us as we try to sort this issue out with the employer,' he pleads.