Health Department must employ student nurses to fill crucial need

17 January 2022

Note to Editors: Please find attached soundbite by Haseena Ismail MP.

The DA calls on the Department of Health (DoH) to ensure that student nurses are employed in areas where there are shortages. The Department must implement consistent nurse absorption strategies in order to bring stability and transparency to the sector.

The DA has received letters from nurses in the Eastern Cape whose contracts weren’t renewed by the DoH after their Covid-19 contracts were completed. The Democratic Nursing Organisation of South Africa (DENOSA) has also highlighted their grievances with the Department last week.

The DA agrees with DENOSA’s requests for a more suitable funding model for nursing education and infrastructure in nursing education institutions. We believe that community service nurses should be absorbed into the country's healthcare facilities upon completion of their community service.

The Department, however, have a history of seemingly exploiting these nurses in order to save costs. It has been highlighted in various news reports that community service nurses have abruptly been released from employment after their community service duties are completed, leaving them no time to find new employment.

The DA suggests that the Department consider the following:

Re-evaluate its recruitment and selection processes by clearly and transparently communicating their intentions, rather than leaving nurses without jobs immediately after their community service is completed;

Communicate with National Treasury in order to find possible avenues for funding in order to retain nurse graduates in the system; and

Work with the private sector and build relationships in order to create alternate pathways for nurse employment after their community service is completed.

It is cruel and short-sighted to let nurses go without a fair warning. South Africa is in desperate need of skilled nurses, especially during the pandemic, and the Department must do everything in its power to retain them.

Issued by Haseena Ismail, DA Member on the Portfolio Committee of Health, 17 January 2022