By Kuda Pembere
Two hundred and ten nurses graduated at Sally Mugabe Central Hospital on Friday, specializing in various disciplines that include General Nursing, Midwifery, Pediatric Nursing, Intensive Care Nursing (ICN), and Operating Theatre Nursing (OTN).
Of these, 114 were general nurses, 55 midwives, 14 pediatric nurses, 14 intensive care nurses, and 13 operating theatre nurses.
Officiating at the ceremony, Higher Life Foundation Country Director Philani Nyatsanza said the partnership between the foundation and the hospital began in 2021 to strengthen maternal and neonatal health services.
“We believe that the Sally Mugabe and Higher Life Foundation relationship has been strengthened by the maternal and neonatal partnership which commenced in December 2021,” Nyatsanza said. “This was as a result of support directed towards reducing maternal and neonatal mortality. To date, Higher Life Foundation has provided 345 pieces of equipment and trained over 1,000 healthcare officers under the MONC program. The organization has assisted in the provision of investigative diagnostic equipment and bedside monitoring for pregnant mothers and neonates.”
Nyatsanza added that Sally Mugabe Hospital will be among the institutions set to benefit from the Beginnings Fund, a nearly US$500 million initiative aimed at saving the lives of mothers and newborns across sub-Saharan Africa. The fund will operate in Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Nigeria, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zimbabwe.
“Such efforts across institutions in Zimbabwe have greatly contributed to reducing the maternal mortality ratio to 212 per 100,000 births as noted in the Zimbabwe Demographic Survey. This figure is still staggering but it shows encouraging progress,” he said.
“Higher Life Foundation endeavors to partner with the Government of Zimbabwe to ensure that no woman dies while giving birth. Mrs. Masiyiwa herself takes this personally—she recently toured the hospital. The Beginnings Fund represents a major philanthropic coming together of funding that we hope will help the government reduce both maternal and neonatal mortality. Higher Life Foundation remains committed to supporting universal health coverage and better health outcomes for all Zimbabweans.”
Sally Mugabe Central Hospital Chief Medical Officer Mr. Hopewell Mungani commended the partnership, noting that the hospital has seen marked improvements in maternal and neonatal outcomes.
“We have surpassed targets in some areas and shown significant progress in many others. The national maternal mortality ratio is now at 212 per 100,000. We have also seen our institutional maternal mortality ratio going down,” Mungani said.
“A review of our neonatal mortality rate over the past five years shows a steady decline, as has our overall hospital inpatient mortality. We have made strides in improving our environment, and our partners have helped modernize several wards.”
He added that the hospital continues to work on improving patient experiences.
“We continue to make improvements in water and sanitation. Our in-house client satisfaction surveys have consistently been around 80%. Together, we are reducing client waiting times, and statistics show that we have largely fallen within targets,” he said.
Mungani noted that the pass rate across all nursing disciplines was above 90 percent.
“It is this enabling environment that has seen us achieve a pass rate above 90% across all disciplines,” he said. “We are becoming a preferred choice for patients, operating above 75% bed occupancy daily. Our graduates embody resilience, professionalism, empathy, and strong work ethics that define our institution.”
One of the graduates, Steve Chiunye, who qualified as a midwife, said he is passionate about ensuring safe motherhood and healthy babies.
“I’m a newly qualified nurse midwife, and I’m happy to have attained this qualification,” Chiunye said. “I’m going to help pregnant mothers from pregnancy, through labour, and postpartum. No woman should suffer in pregnancy, delivery, or after birth. I’m passionate about helping mothers.”
