Pretoria - The North West Health Department continues to see steady progress in addressing the challenges of scares skills and training of health professionals, with more nurses and doctors becoming available.
After getting 509 nurses last year, the province will on Friday officially get another 545 new nurses at a joint graduation ceremony to be held at Mmabatho Convention Centre.
The nurses, who were trained and produced by the two government nursing colleges, Mmabatho College of Nursing and Excelsius Nursing College, include 360 midwives and neonatal nurses.
The nurses will be graduating in different fields including comprehensive nursing, midwifery, psychiatric nursing, advanced midwifery and neonatal nursing science, operating theatre and clinical nursing science.
Provincial health spokesperson Tebogo Lekgethwane said the release of new nurses comes as the department re-engineers primary health care in order to improve the health status of communities through the implementation of the integrated health programme; and provide an accessible, equitable and affordable comprehensive primary health care service that prevents diseases.
“The graduates will be deployed to health facilities in the province which are in need of extra nurses for efficient and prompt health service delivery. They will do their compulsory community service for a year, which will enable them to register with the South African Nursing Council,” Lekgethwane said. - SAnews.gov.za
