Denosa’s provincial secretary, Veronica Fransman-Hendricks, says the number of unemployed nursing graduates in the province is on the rise, coupled by the non-placement of nursing students for their experiential training. Fransman-Hendricks says some nurses working at public health care facilities still face enormous challenges, with many of them in most cases required to work extended hours without being paid their overtime salaries in due time, while they also still have to do with limited or a lack of resources.

Fransman-Hendricks says they would like the department to urgently address these issues and come to the table. She says there have been endless promises by the department that the issues of nursing students’ placements would be prioritised, but until today the problem still persists. She says the department needs to play a more active role. 

Fransman-Hendricks says in celebration of the International Nurses Day tomorrow, they would like all the nurses and nursing students to come together and celebrate this day. She urges all nurses to come together to highlight the work they do in serving the public as well as to highlight the issues they are still faced with. 

She pleads with the department to work towards creating a more positive working environment for the nurses to enable them to do their work effectively. 

The Provincial Department of Health is yet to respond to OFM’s inquiries. 

OFM News/Katleho Morapela