By Kuda Pembere
A total of 316 nurses trained at Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals graduated on Friday as registered general nurses, midwives, paediatric, operating theatre, renal, ophthalmic as well as intensive and coronary care nurses.
Health and Child Care Minister Douglas Mombeshora officiating the graduation ceremony commended Parirenyatwa Nursing School tutors for their dedication through churning out such a huge number of graduands.
“Today we celebrate with the three hundred and sixteen(316) nurses that continue to raise the flag of the nation high graduating from different specialties. This is a bold statement of our capacity to provide these much needed and internationally sought after critical human resources. These cadres are at the center of the ministry of health and child care transformation agenda.
“I am equally happy that even in the face of the acute brain drain, especially of tutors and clinical instructors, Parirenyatwa continues to shine producing the largest number of nurse graduates annually, indeed you are living up to the billing of being Zimbabwe’s premier healthcare center, well done.
“Your success story and show of confidence in the institution is also displayed by the continued number of foreign students being attracted to the institution and are also part of the graduands today,” he said.
The Health Minister added that Government is committed to motivate the health workforce having developed a strategic plan.
“The Government of Zimbabwe envisions a health workforce with an adequate number, wide-ranging in skills and motivated to deliver health services for Zimbabweans to achieve the highest possible quality of life.
“The government of Zimbabwe through my ministry has taken major steps towards improving the working environment in the health sector through coming up with policies, frameworks and guidelines to enhance the recruitment, training and retention of the health workforce.
“My ministry recognizes that the health workforce is critical to the attainment of the Vision 2030. It is against this background that the MOHCC has developed A HEALTH WORKFORCE STRATEGIC PLAN 2023 – 2030 to address key human resources for health issues and gaps. Health Workforce Education, Training and Development is one of the main strategic pillars that has been identified as key in the attainment of this vision,” he said.
Mombeshora said they intend to double the current health workforce by over 50 000 by 2030. He also said there was need to increase outputs in education and training of human resources for health especially in the nurse training schools through expansion in training capacity, refurbishment and re purposing/expansion of existing health training institutions.
“Retooling and equipping of all health training institutions will be prioritised, with expansion of the existing training institutions and establishment of new ones to increase the training output,” he said.
He also mentioned that the Health Workforce Compact has since been approved by Cabinet.
“The HEALTH WORKFORCE COMPACT which was recently approved by the cabinet and due to be launched soon provides the framework for resource mobilization towards attaining increased training outputs and retention of the health workforce. Involvement of the private sector in training will be strengthened through development and implementation of public private partnerships. Use of technology to enhance delivery of training in the training of nurses will be enhanced as evidenced by the recent launch of the e-training platform for midwifery schools in Chinhoyi,” Dr Mombeshora said.
PGH chief medical officer Tsitsi Magure explained, “Forty three (43) graduating at Post Basic Level, one hundred and eighty (180) are General nurses, thirty eight (38) being Midwives, while five (5) are Oncology nurses, seven are Operating Theatre nurses, eleven (11) being Intensive Coronary care nurses, again in this class we have ten (10) nurse Anesthetists, four (4) Renal nurses and eighteen (18) Ophthalmic nurses.”
An Advanced Midwifery student were elated to have graduated. “My name is Cynthia Shamiso Bisalom and I am an advanced midwife and I have just graduated today. It feels good to be graduating in the midwifery practice and it is quite interesting and I am so happy,” she said.
