This news aggregator site highlights South African labour news from a wide range of internet and print sources. Each posting has a synopsis of the source article, together with a link or reference to the original. Postings cover the range of labour related matters from industrial relations to generalist human resources.
City Press writes that for every 402 people in SA, there is only one registered nurse to see to them – and things are getting worse as nurses leave for other countries that pay higher salaries and have better working conditions.
According to a source quoted by the Democratic Alliance (DA), SA has a shortage of 80 000 nurses, which is almost double the indication of 44,780 which the health department reported in 2010. The DA says the consequence of this massive shortage is deeply compromised patient care. According to Sibongiseni Delihlazo of the Democratic Nursing Organisation of SA (Denosa), there are various factors which have been contributing to the loss of nurses in SA. Among these are the closures of nursing training colleges and that the nurses’ working conditions are more challenging than ever. Delihlazo commented: “The few nurses who remain in facilities are crying about the shortage. Each does the work of three or four other nurses.” A review of the 2007 occupation-specific dispensation (OSD) that was supposed to have taken place in 2012 has also not happened.
- Read this report by Avantika Seeth in full at City Press
- See too, Salaries of nurses in SA are appalling, says Denosa president, at 702
Get other news reports at the SA Labour News home page