"The fact that there are no vacancies means that no money has been budgeted for to pay extra nurses. But if the DPSM could create more vacancies, more nurses would come in and the shortage would be addressed," he said.He believes that some nurses have left the country for greener pastures due to the fact that there were no vacancies available for them.
Phillip said that adhering to recommended nurse patient ratios for hospitals and clinics would go a long way in improving service delivery. Currently, nurses and other professionals in the health system are unable to offer quality service due to exhaustion, he asserted. "In Botswana nurse patient ratio for hospitals is 1:10. Obviously it is not observed in all health facilities thus leading to one nurse managing triple the number of patients and consequently compromising the nursing care," he said. "Go to Princess Marina Hospital say at night, you will find only four nurses on duty nursing close to a hundred patients. Almost all patients are critical, who do they attend and who do they leave?" he charged.
