Local Hospital honours nurses for dedication and service
During the occasion, the keynote speaker presented her speech, and nurses were subsequently awarded certificates for their hard work and efforts in their respective sectors.
Bertha Gxowa Hospital hosted its annual International Nurses Day celebration on May 30 at the Dr Mini Clarence Hall.
The day is dedicated to honouring nurses and their hard work.
Though the day is celebrated worldwide on May 12, the institution did not hesitate to recognise it before the end of May.
During the occasion, the keynote speaker presented her speech, and nurses were subsequently awarded certificates for their hard work and efforts in their respective sectors.
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One of the speakers, Dr Mirriam Matandela, who is a registered nurse, midwife and trauma and emergency nurse specialist, gave a message of support as she touched on the struggles faced by nurses across the province.
Matandela said the 2025 International Nurses Day is commemorated under the theme ‘Our Nurses. Our Future. Caring for nurses strengthens economies’.
“This theme emphasises the significance of a healthy nursing workforce in providing high-quality care as well as improving healthcare systems and increasing economic resilience on a global scale.
Creating a positive practice environment that ensures the availability of equipment and consumables, and therapeutic working relations helps to ensure the mental well-being of nurses.
“A well-cared nurse with regards to physical and emotional well-being is equivalent to a well-cared community and positive health outcomes whilst the opposite leads to increasing service delivery complaints and patient safety incidents leading to litigations that consumes goods and services budget,” said Matandela.
“The nursing cluster within the NDoH is tasked with developing, guiding, and monitoring the implementation of a national policy framework for developing the required nursing skills and capacity to deliver effective nursing services to healthcare users.
“The cluster is enabled to carry this through education, nursing practice and stakeholder management directorates.
“The cluster was established through the Nursing Summit that was held in 2011 where the president positioned the nursing profession, followed by the appointment of the chief nursing officer Dr Makhanya by Minister Dr Motsoaledi in 2014.
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“Our plea to the province is that nurses training and availability of well-equipped clinical platforms should be strengthened. The establishment of CETUs should be prioritised not only for student training but also for preparation of the full rollout of continuing professional development for nurses, a programme that will be compulsory for renewal of their annual practising licence by the SANC in future.
“The WHO launched the State of the World Nursing Report that addressed education, jobs, leadership and service delivery. Many countries did not achieve the set target from 2020, however, some showed strides. South Africa is among them.
“In terms of these four focus areas, there is gradual movement. I am saying this because we are battling with a gross shortage of healthcare workers, especially nurses because of the ever-decreasing fiscal, impacting negatively on appointments.
“I am pleading with our HR and finance managers that we understand the financial indices locally and globally, but our plea is that let us not lose vacant funded posts due to administrative delays in filling of posts. When annual recruitment plans are developed can nursing also be considered,” said Matandela
Matandela said the training of nurses, especially nurse specialists, remains a challenge in terms of accreditation of institutions and programmes, an area in NDoH is engaging both SANC and CHE.
“With regards to service delivery, we have observed the challenges experienced by frontline employees and during our provincial visits we have also identified limitations on leadership, hence we embarked on a nursing leadership initiative with partners that we piloted in this province,” said Matandela.
“Today, Gauteng nurses are celebrating Nurses Day where we celebrate the birthday of Florence Nightingale, looking at the role she played during the Crimean War.
“We also have our South African stalwarts who have contributed immensely to nursing in the country and those include Cecilia Makiwane, Charlotte Maxeke, and Albertina Sisulu to mention just a few.
“The solution to the reduction of patient safety incidents and litigations lies on these professionals. Let’s empower them, and let’s create a conducive environment for them,” said Matandela.
