Democratic Nursing Organisation of South Africa

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Dear members of the media.

All Limpopo nurses will converge to Ngoako Ramatlhodi Sports Complex in Seshego tomorrow 14 May to hold a combined celebration of International Nurses Day, a collaboration between private and public health sector, Correctional Service, the Department of Health and all trade unions organizing in the province.

Limpopo hosts this annual celebration as a collaborative effort of all stakeholders in the province, and it has proven to be an overwhelming success.   

Members of the media are invited to attend and report, as speakers will articulate on the challenges that nurses are faced with on a daily basis in the workplace in their attempt to achieve better health outcomes for South Africans; and will provide solutions to the challenges.

This year’s theme is: Nurses: A force for Change: Care Effective, Cost Effective.

For more information, and to schedule an interview with DENOSA leadership, contact:

Sibongiseni Delihlazo, DENOSA Communications Manager:

Mobile: 079 875 2663

Email: sibongisenid@denosa.org.za

Below is a relevant content, for reference.

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The Democratic Nursing Organisation of South Africa (DENOSA) would like to wish all nurses of South Africa, the continent and the whole world a happy International Nurses Day today the 12^thof May, and a Happy International Nurses Week.

The 12^th of May is International Nurses Day (IND), the commemoration of Florence Nightingale, the pioneer of modern-day nursing. In celebrating this day, DENOSA further pays tribute to the past trailblazers such as Mary Seacole, who was a Jamaican-born black woman of Scottish descent and a heroine who served selflessly in the Crimean War together with Florence Nightingale but received very little recognition for her great contribution to modern nursing. We also pay tribute to Cecilia Makhiwane, a local hero and a first black registered nurse in South Africa. 

Despite the many modern-day challenges that nurses grapple with on a daily basis, they still have a space in their hearts to celebrate being nurses. The nursing profession is faced with a burden of challenges in the workplace, from severe shortage, increasing burden of lifestyle-related diseases on the country’s population and dwindling appreciation and respect it once enjoyed from communities. But on the 12^th of May each year, all these challenges and many others are put aside as the day marks International Nurses Day where nurses use the day to rekindle their passion for the profession they fell in love with in the first place.

Celebrating this year’s day with the theme: Nurses: A force for change: Care Effective, Cost Effective, which calls on facility managers and policy-makers around the world to look at the nurses’ role a key contributor to achieving health outcomes, DENOSA calls on local policy-makers and institutional managers to heed this call and accommodate the view of nursing fraternity when coming up with solutions to the many health challenges in the country.

In celebrating this day, the Democratic Nursing Organisation of South Africa (DENOSA), with over 82 000 members who are nurses, will be staging annual celebrations for nurses in all provinces from the 12^th of May. 

The profession is faced with many challenges that include:

-          Near-ageing and retiring personnel with no immediate replacement;

-          Early retirement and change of careers due to severe shortage of nurses and burn-out;

-          Over-indebtedness; 

-          Lack of access to housing;

-          Shortage of equipment and resources at work;

-          Lack of safety in the workplace;

-          Increasingly sick population; 

-          Departure of nurses for greener pastures;

As part of the celebrating Nurses Day, DENOSA will be handing over stethoscopes to nurses in the venues we will be celebrating International Nurses Day in. It is our belief that this instrument will assist nurses handsomely in the execution of their work of saving lives. Many nurses, especially those based in semi-rural community health centres and hospital are short of critical equipment like stethoscopes.

A stethoscope is a medical instrument used to hear sounds made by the body of a patient, such as heart, lungs and stomach.  These assist health professionals like nurses to take the necessary precaution based on the condition of the patient.  While equipment like this is critical to effective care of a patient, the sad reality is that health professionals are short of stethoscopes. 

In spite of these challenges, however, nurses still have many reasons to celebrate this day for. As the face of a health system, nurses have been at the forefront in waging the battle against HIV. More than 2.4 million South Africans are on government’s Anti-retroviral Treatment programme thanks to Nurse-Initiated Management of Anti-retroviral Therapy (NIMART). The fight against TB, through the dedicated campaign that will focus on mining areas, will be spearheaded by nurses.

DENOSA would like to encourage nurses to stay on course in spite of the challenges they face. At least ordinary South Africans are benefiting handsomely from their work, and many patients see the value nurses add in their lives.

DENOSA says: Keep the candle burning, for your country needs you.

End  

You can contact the following leaders and veteran nurses for an interview in the language of your choice: (They will be spread out in the provinces to celebrate this day under the theme: Nurses: A force for change: Care Effective, Cost Effective)

DENOSA President – Simon Hlungwani (English, Xitsonga, sePedi, Tshivenda, isiZulu, isiXhosa)

DENOSA First Deputy President: Letsatsi Modise (English, Sotho, Tswana)

DENOSA Second Deputy President: Thandeka Msibi (English, isiZulu)

DENOSA National Treasurer: Cookie Nkambule (English, Swati, Afrikaans, sePedi, Ndebele)

DENOSA General Secretary: Madithapo Masemola (English, sePedi, Tswana)

DENOSA Deputy General Secretary: Oscar Phaka (English, Tswana, Sotho)

DENOSA Deputy General Secretary: Daniel Kwena Manamela (English, sePedi, Tswana)

To set up an interview, contact DENOSA Communications Manager, Sibongiseni Delihlazo:

Mobile: 079 875 2663

Email: sibongisenid@denosa.org.za