HEADLINE | Brunei facing nurse shortage, says minister
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Brunei, South Africa Highlight Nursing Shortage, Mark International Nurses Day
To mark International Nurses Day on Tuesday, the Brunei Darussalam Nurses Association (BDNA) highlighted the shortage of local nurses at hospitals and health clinics around the country, the Brunei Times reports. “We’re still facing a shortage of nurses as we need to deploy staff to different posts throughout the country and right now we don’t have enough,” Hjh Salmah Hj Mohd Noor, a BDNA member, said.
In a statement Hj Julaini Hj Latip, deputy president of BDNA, outlined the challenges that nurses often face. He said, “Though nurses are the first and primary point of contact for health services, globally, they encounter many challenges in a world that is constantly changing.” These challenges include: working with ageing population, dealing with HIV/AIDS cases, treating non-communicable diseases and infectious diseases, and bearing the brunt of workforce shortages.
“Nurses have to be proactive and knowledgeable in facing these challenges and the demands of healthcare profession,” he said, adding that nursing innovation is an important source of progress for healthcare systems worldwide. According to Hj Julaini, nurses should ensure that new procedures and technologies are adopted and implemented effectively (Brunei Times, 5/14).
In the province of Limpopo, South Africa, the health department marked International Nurses Day with a pledge to scale up efforts to retain nurses and prevent them from seeking work in other countries or in the private sector, News24.com reports.
Miriam Segabutla, a Limpopo health official, said that retaining nurses in sub-Saharan Africa is a big challenge. “We have no choice but to do whatever it takes to keep our health professionals because of the large burden of communicable and the non-communicable diseases like HIV/AIDS, malaria, cholera and tuberculosis,” she said, adding that the government offers stipends for people who are willing to work in rural areas.
South Africa will host 10,000 nursing delegates for the International Nurses Congress in Durban beginning on June 29 (Masinga, News24.com, 5/14).
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