Nurses refusing to go to rural areas

HEALTH Minister Richard Kamwi has described the refusal by newly qualified nurses to work in rural areas as shameful.

To counter that, Namibia has decided to bring in 103 registered nurses from Kenya who will work on two-year contracts under a memorandum of understanding with their government. Kamwi said Namibia had a shortage of 1 500 nurses by last week – 525 registered nurses and 975 enrolled nurses.”Our nurses are simply overworked,” he said in an interview.He said of the 103 recruited Kenyan nurses, 59 have already been approved by the Public Service Commission and 34 of those 59 have been authorised to practise as registered nurses.They will be posted to the Caprivi, Kavango and Kunene regions – all described as priority areas – after a two-week orientation in the city.Kamwi said registered nurses who graduated at higher-learning institutions refused to go to rural areas because they wanted to stay where there was shopping centres and transport.For instance, of the 47 nurses who qualified last year, only three agreed to go to rural areas.”Efforts to convince others to go Caprivi and Kavango failed,” said the Minister.Of those 47 nurses, four decided to join the private sector.”Some of the excuses are quite shabby.It is a shame that foreigners go there without problems,” he said.He said the Ministry was providing accommodation with every clinic built in rural areas and there was a programme in place to train 1 170 enrolled nurses and 930 registered nurses by 2010.That is in addition to 217 doctors, 129 pharmacists, 38 dentists and 67 medical laboratory technologists.By last week, the Ministry’s records indicated that there were 135 vacant posts for doctors and 26 positions to be filled by pharmacists.The majority of vacancies were for nurses, however.Kamwi said 104 registered nurses and 23 enrolled nurses had resigned since April 2004 to join the private sector while 54 had since rejoined the Ministry of Health.Most of them resigned to get their pensions.He said 12 registered nurses had left for the United Kingdom during the same period, but described this number as “quite insignificant”.The Minister refuted claims that nurses were poorly paid.He said a comparison of the salaries of registered, enrolled and chief registered nurses with those of their counterparts in South Africa revealed that they were actually better off.The comparison was made in June last year.Kamwi said Namibia had a shortage of 1 500 nurses by last week – 525 registered nurses and 975 enrolled nurses.”Our nurses are simply overworked,” he said in an interview.He said of the 103 recruited Kenyan nurses, 59 have already been approved by the Public Service Commission and 34 of those 59 have been authorised to practise as registered nurses.They will be posted to the Caprivi, Kavango and Kunene regions – all described as priority areas – after a two-week orientation in the city.Kamwi said registered nurses who graduated at higher-learning institutions refused to go to rural areas because they wanted to stay where there was shopping centres and transport.For instance, of the 47 nurses who qualified last year, only three agreed to go to rural areas.”Efforts to convince others to go Caprivi and Kavango failed,” said the Minister.Of those 47 nurses, four decided to join the private sector.”Some of the excuses are quite shabby.It is a shame that foreigners go there without problems,” he said.He said the Ministry was providing accommodation with every clinic built in rural areas and there was a programme in place to train 1 170 enrolled nurses and 930 registered nurses by 2010.That is in addition to 217 doctors, 129 pharmacists, 38 dentists and 67 medical laboratory technologists.By last week, the Ministry’s records indicated that there were 135 vacant posts for doctors and 26 positions to be filled by pharmacists.The majority of vacancies were for nurses, however.Kamwi said 104 registered nurses and 23 enrolled nurses had resigned since April 2004 to join the private sector while 54 had since rejoined the Ministry of Health.Most of them resigned to get their pensions.He said 12 registered nurses had left for the United Kingdom during the same period, but described this number as “quite insignificant”.The Minister refuted claims that nurses were poorly paid.He said a comparison of the salaries of registered, enrolled and chief registered nurses with those of their counterparts in South Africa revealed that they were actually better off.The comparison was made in June last year.