Fresh calls for government to recruit more nurses

The Anglican Diocese of Upper Shire has revived calls for the government to recruit more nurses to improve health service delivery in the country.

Anglican Diocese of Upper Shire Vicar General Canon Grant Tebulo said this in Blantyre on Friday during the graduation of 344 students from St. Luke’s College of Health Sciences.

He said it is frustrating to note that most public health facilities, including central and district hospitals have inadequate numbers of nurses despite that a number of them are unemployed.

Tebulo said: “Students come and study for three years, and once they have graduated, they go out there and not even be recognised. We have invested a lot in them in terms of resources and time, so we are saying the government should come in and assist them.

“Open the gates and that they should be employed in various hospitals in our country, bearing in mind that health workers are not adequate as nurse to patients ratio are not tallying at all.”

Tebulo’s sentiments come against the background that Malawi has since 2017 not been able to directly recruit health care workers, resulting in about 63 percent vacancy rate, a situation which is affecting the provision of health services in the country.

To date, recruitment of health care workers has been bankrolled by donor partners such as the United States President’s Emergency Plan for Aids Relief (Pepfar), Centre for Diseases Control and Prevention, The Global Fund and the Health Joint Fund.

Guest of honour Belinda Gombachika, who is also Kamuzu University of Health Sciences (Kuhes) deputy vice-chancellor, urged the graduating students to uphold to their professional standards and learn to control their emotions when dealing with patients.

She noted that the nursing profession is a calling which deals with people’s lives; hence, they take an oath before graduation.

 “There are a lot of issues that are coming in because of professional conduct by health professionals. So you will be working with people and not machines. Let us conduct ourselves in a professional manner, the way we talk to patients and the way we dress is also important,” said Gombachika.

In an interview yesterday, Ministry of Health Principal Secretary Samson Mndolo acknowledged the shortage of health professionals in public health facilities.

“It is true that the vacancy rate is so high in most public facilities and not only for nurses. So we need to recruit more cadres once we get the resources,” he said.

The students obtained diplomas in public health, nursing and midwifery, among others.