Nurses to learn sign language

28 Jun, 2015 - 00:06 0 Views
Nurses to learn sign language Dr David Parirenyatwa

The Sunday News

THE Ministry of Health and Child Care has embarked on a drive to teach selected nurses sign language countrywide as a way of addressing problems faced by patients with hearing and speech impairment.
The development has already seen 30 nurses at Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals being trained to sign.
The training of nurses was made possible by Dr Timothy Stamps Trust for Chronic Conditions. Dr Stamps, who is the Health Advisor to the President and Cabinet, is the founder of the trust. He once served as the Minister of Health.

Health and Child Care Minister Dr David Parirenyatwa said the programme would cascade to other parts of the country.
“We are going to roll out the programme to different parts of the country where nurses will be taught different aspects of sign language. Our wish as the ministry is to ensure that no one is being disadvantaged whenever they need medical services,” said Dr Parirenyatwa.

Health Services Board spokesperson Mr Nyasha Maravanyika said health officials realised there were several challenges that were faced by patients with hearing and speech impairment.

“This is a policy issue which has much to do with the crafting of syllabus which will cater for the current needs of the society. The move of training nurses is certainly going to go a long way in ratifying the problem faced by patients with hearing and speech impairment,” said Mr Maravanyika.

Some of the topics that nurses are likely to go through when learning the language include introduction to sign language, manual alphabets, categories of deaf people, finger spelling and sign language vocabulary, among others.

The training is in line with the new Constitution which recognises sign language as one of the official languages in the country.
Chapter 1 subsection 6 (4) of the Constitution stipulates that the State must promote and advance the use of all languages used in Zimbabwe, including sign language, and must create conditions for the development of those languages. The trust is expected to raise awareness on prevention and management of chronic conditions and advocating for a supportive environment for people living with such conditions.

The trust is expected to benefit people suffering from chronic diseases which kill more than 36 million people each year in the whole world.

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