South Africa needs as many as 26 000 nurses to meet the growing demand.
This is according to Dr Sharon Vasuthevan, Education Executive at Life Healthcare. She again raised this issue speaking at the observance of the annual International Nurses Day on 12 May.
Vasuthevan said the group has set a target to train 3 000 nurses per year as part of addressing the shortage, locally and globally.
She said concerted efforts to curb the shortage has seen 900 students graduate.
“The challenge we face, is that we are not training as many nurses as the country requires.
“Our ambition is to significantly increase enrolment,” she said, and stressed that the private-public sector need to accelerate training of nurses to meet the growing demand.
Peter Wharton-Hood, group chief executive officer, highlighted the fact that the Covid-19 pandemic has taken a toll on the profession since its outbreak in 2020. Scores of nurses have died as a result of the pandemic.
“The Covid-19 pandemic serves as a reminder of the critical role nurses play in the health sector.”
SA’s 2030 Human Resources for Health strategy has further raised a flag regarding a shortage of nurses.
According to this strategy in 2025 the country will face a shortage of about 34 000 registered nurses if no immediate action is taken.
Short supply has resulted in nurses working long hours in the public sector, seeing scores of patients at clinics and hospitals.
However, in sharp contrast to this in March the South African government excluded numerous medical professions – doctors and nurses – from the list of critical skills published.
The government was criticised by various sectors, including the Hospital Association of South Africa (Hasa) with Dr Dumisane Bomela, chief executive officer of Hasa, pointing out that the development of skills in the medical professions came to a standstill in recent years.
Ironically, Joe Phaahla, Health minister, strongly warned during the presentation of his budget vote on 10 May that South Africa faces a critical shortage of healthcare professionals, pointing to a doctor-patient ratio of 1 doctor per 3 198 people.
Teboho Chakela, a professional nurse, and Sherian Sirsang, a senior professional nurse in the intensive care unit at Mediclinic Bloemfontein, are happy to be lifesavers.
Chakela’s career spans over 22 years having abandoned teaching. He orginates from Kroonstad and Sirsang from Dubai.
