Retraining of nurses to start – Dr Parirenyatwa

12 Oct, 2014 - 03:10 0 Views
Retraining of nurses to start – Dr Parirenyatwa Dr David Parirenyatwa

The Sunday News

THE Ministry of Health and Child Care will soon re-train nurses that have been unemployed for about three years, in a bid to ensure they still have the skills when they are absorbed into the health system.
The Minister of Health and Child Care, Dr David Parirenyatwa, said this last week on the sidelines of a graduation ceremony of Mpilo Central Hospital nurses.

“We have tasked the directorate of nursing services to look at that schedule where we mentor nurses but as we now re-engage nurses into the system following the unfreezing of posts it is most relevant that they are trained again,” he said.

Dr Parirenyatwa said the director of nursing services will furnish the ministry with a schedule on how they intend to do the training process following the lifting of the freeze on 680 posts.

Asked on the effects of the re-training on the fiscus, the minister said the Government will not make the nurses pay for their re-training.
“It will definitely be us. We will cater for the costs involved as it is our fault they delayed in being employed. It cannot be individual nurses who take up the cost. They are not to blame,” he said.

The minister said there will be a mentoring course that will be devised for the returning nurses so that they are refreshed on various issues and developments that have taken place over the years.

“They have to be mentored because three years away from the field is too much; you get used to certain habits which need to be corrected so that you blend in with others,” he said.

However, the chairperson of the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Health, Dr Ruth Labode, said it is the nurses who failed to make themselves useful over the years.

“The choice is the nurses’; they shun going to rural areas where they have the opportunity to assist at health centres but they do not go such that they sit for years and now need re-training,” she said.

Dr Labode said nurses should strive to keep themselves occupied in voluntary nursing work so that they do not lose the acquired skill rather than being unoccupied for years.

An analyst on health issues who refused to be named for professional reasons said the re-training is paramount.
“It is highly recommendable that nurses who have been idle for a few years be re-trained because there is a high possibility that they will have lost touch with many procedures. It is vital to re-train them to avoid any mistakes when they are back in the field,” he said.

“The medical field is a sensitive one that needs one to be always alert so it becomes worrisome when we want to deploy a nurse who has been at home for the past four years to administer medications. It is essential that re-training for at least six months be done.”

He, however, highlighted that the fiscus is already burdened with the current contingent of nurses in the country and re-training would mean more funding is needed to cater for the cost.

The analyst took a swipe at Dr Labode’s sentiments, saying it is dangerous for nurses to be deployed in institutions on a voluntary basis while they await placement.

“If we take in volunteer nurses who just want to maintain their skill, who becomes responsible in the case of litigation? Can the ministry be responsible for the misdemeanors that could occur or it will just be a vicious cycle where there is not much accountability at the same time posing a risk to patients?” he questioned.

The analyst also said if nurses are to be deployed on a voluntary basis it would take a toll on their personal finances as they will not be remunerated. He added that nurses’ re-training will assist in churning out nurses that are abreast with latest developments in the medical field.

The ministry is also planing to unfreeze more nursing posts in the coming year.

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