Shortage of nurses caused by migration

OPUWO – The Chief Medical Officer of the Kunene Region, Dr Ebong Akpabio, says the shortage of medical practitioners at rural clinics and hospitals in Namibia is caused chiefly by their migration to towns.

Akpabio told Nampa that nurses were resigning from the Ministry of Health and Social Services in one region only to join the same Ministry the same month in another town. Akpabio said there was an urgent need to prevent this kind of migration.”The worst (culprits) are people who were brought to the regions to assist people in their areas.These are the people who are resigning and going into towns,” he said.At the Opuwo Hospital, eight nurses resigned this year to go and work in bigger towns.Four of the nurses are registered nurses and this resulted in the closure of the eye clinic at Opuwo.According to Akpabio, the eye clinic would remain closed for the next two years until a person who had been sent for training returned.Opuwo Hospital received two Kenyan registered nurses on Thursday but he described it as a drop in the ocean, as the shortage of nurses remained acute.A doctor and a pharmacist from Cuba also arrived last week at Opuwo Hospital.Akpabio said incentives for staff in the rural areas should be improved to motivate and encourage them to work in rural areas or villages.He said at the same time the Ministry should impose restrictions on how soon people who resigned could be re-employed by the same Ministry.At least 400 more nurses are needed to ease the current countrywide shortages.- NampaAkpabio said there was an urgent need to prevent this kind of migration.”The worst (culprits) are people who were brought to the regions to assist people in their areas.These are the people who are resigning and going into towns,” he said.At the Opuwo Hospital, eight nurses resigned this year to go and work in bigger towns.Four of the nurses are registered nurses and this resulted in the closure of the eye clinic at Opuwo.According to Akpabio, the eye clinic would remain closed for the next two years until a person who had been sent for training returned.Opuwo Hospital received two Kenyan registered nurses on Thursday but he described it as a drop in the ocean, as the shortage of nurses remained acute.A doctor and a pharmacist from Cuba also arrived last week at Opuwo Hospital.Akpabio said incentives for staff in the rural areas should be improved to motivate and encourage them to work in rural areas or villages.He said at the same time the Ministry should impose restrictions on how soon people who resigned could be re-employed by the same Ministry.At least 400 more nurses are needed to ease the current countrywide shortages.- Nampa