Democratic Nursing Organisation of South Africa

MEDIA INVITATION     

The Democratic Nursing Organisation of South Africa (DENOSA) in Limpopo will host the provincial 20 year celebration of DENOSA’s existence at Polokwane Royal Hotel on Thursday 1 December from 10h00 to 16h00, under the theme: “Celebrating 20 years of unifying nurses”. Nurses from the province will observe the day, which will also mark the commemoration of World Aids Day.   

DENOSA Acting General Secretary, Oscar Phaka, will deliver the keynote address at the celebrations. Guests will also include the Department of Health in the province, COSATU Provincial Secretary, Gerald Twala, and leaders from the tripartite alliance in the province.   

Members of the media are cordially invited to attend provincial celebration and report.

As a background to the 20 year celebration, DENOSA was launched on 5 December 1996 at the Union Buildings. The first democratically-elected president in South Africa, Nelson Mandela, officially launched the organisation. The national DENOSA 20 year celebration will be held at the Union Buildings in Pretoria on 5 December 2016, where all nurses from all over the country will converge to celebrate the day. This year’s celebration is held under the theme: “Celebrating 20 years of unifying nurses”.

Details of the event are as follows:    

DATE: Thursday, 1 December 2016   

VENUE: Polokwane Royal Hotel, Polokwane     

TIME: 10h00 – 16h00  

CONTACT PERSON: Sibongiseni Delihlazo, DENOSA Communications Manager. 079 875 2663

Tel: 012 343 2315

Email:sibongisenid@denosa.org.za

BACKGROUNDER 

In its 20 years of existence, the organisation has had many successes that are worth celebrating. These include:

• - Spear-heading the formation of Southern African Network of Nurses and Midwives (SANNAM) as a regional body for nurses in the SADC region 

• - Introduction of uniform allowance for nurses in 2005 at the bargaining council

• - Campaigning for the establishment of a Chief Nursing Officer position within the Department of Health since 2006, and the subsequent appointment of the officer in 2014

• - Establishment of DENOSA Professional Institute (DPI), to look at professional needs of nurses in the workplace 

• - Concluding an agreement on Occupation-Specific Dispensation for nurses at the bargaining chamber in 2007, for proper adjustment of nurses’ salaries according to experience and specialty

• - Concluding an agreement on Danger Allowance for nurses in psychiatric facilities  

• - Concluding an agreement for professional nurses working in rural areas to receive rural allowance 

• - Assisting nurses in the DRC to establish a nursing regulatory body in their country 

• - Assisting the Zambian Nurses Organisation to become a nurses union 

• - Ongoing case representation for its members 

The organisation is still grappling with many challenges in the profession, which poses a threat in the delivery of quality healthcare to patients by nurses. Some of these challenges, which it continues to deal with head-on, include:

• - Urgent need to review the Occupation-Specific Dispensation (OSD) and include nurses that were previously excluded in the current OSD regime 

• - Establishment Nursing Directorates in all provinces, proper staffing of those and appointment of Chief Nursing Officers in provinces to spear-head nurse-related issues within health 

• - Severe shortage of nurses, which result in burnout of nurses in the public sector facilities, which automatically lead to  negative attitude and compromised quality care 

• - The overhaul of HR departments to address the ongoing challenge of non-absorption of community service nurses and post-community service nurses in provinces  

• - Lack of safety of health workers in most facilities 

• - Inclusion of lower category nurses in benefiting from Rural Allowance 

• - Payment of Danger Allowance to nurses in units such as Casualty, TB, and nurses in Community Health Centres and clinics 

• - Clear career-pathing for lower category nurses in the time of new nursing curriculum 

• - Continuous Professional Development opportunities for all nurses in the workplace

• - Proper reconfiguration of Performance Management Development System (PMDS) countrywide, or Staff Performance Management System (SPMS, as is called in Western Cape) to take into account staff shortages in health facilities and negative effect of this on performance of nurses 

End