The Sunday News
UNETHICAL practices have been exposed at one of the country’s nursing schools with student nurses being forced to buy books and other equipment from hospital officials at inflated prices, a situation that has seen some students being sent away for not complying, Sunday News has learnt.
Information from sources at United Bulawayo Hospitals (UBH) School of Nursing say when students enrolled at the school in September, they were given a list of requirements which they were supposed to have upon commencement of training.
The sources said on the list were nine textbooks which were to be bought from the school but they were too expensive for the students such that they opted to buy the books in South Africa.
One of the books that is required is reportedly being sold for $200 at the school while it costs about R900 in South Africa. Students questioned why they are being forced to buy books that are only required next year.
“We were told to buy books by the end of this week but some of them are only needed next year and again they are too costly for us. That is why we opted to get them in South Africa and they have threatened to deduct the money from our salaries,” said a student.
It is alleged that the hospital authorities were furious when they discovered students had found cheaper places to buy the books such that they imposed that all remaining textbooks be bought from them.
One of the textbooks, which they were made to buy at the school, Medical-Surgical Nursing by Brunner and Suddart, costs R927 on South African online shop Kalahari.com yet the school is allegedly selling it for $200 to the students.
Another textbook, Anatomy of Nursing by Ross and Wilson costs R317 on Kalahari.com while the school pegged it at $70. A Nurses Dictionary is R126 on the same website while students bought it for $35.
A large number of the students told the Sunday News that they struggled to comply with all the school’s requirements when lessons commenced and the high cost of books is not making it any easier.
Sources at the hospital also said that some students were sent away from tutorials for not having bought the
