Story by Abigirl Tembo, Health Editor
More than 300 nurses have joined Zimbabwe’s healthcare ranks after graduating at Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals in Harare this Friday.
The 316 dedicated individuals completed their training in various nursing specialties, including registered general nursing, midwifery, community nursing as well as ophthalmic, operating theatre, anaesthetic nursing and oncology.
“For me, nursing is a passion and ever since I could remember I have always wanted to be a nurse. Today I am happy that I am finally a nurse,” said a graduate
Another said, “To some of us nursing is a calling. My mother is a nurse and I admire what she does and how she does it. That is why I joined the nursing profession.”
“The journey has been hard, sometimes I felt like giving up, but am happy I persevered and now we are ready to serve the nation.”
The Minister of Health and Child Care (MOHCC), Dr Douglas Mombeshora emphasised the importance of the health workforce in achieving Vision 2030.
He said, “My Ministry recognizes that the health workforce is critical to the attainment of 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.
“In the same vein, in pursuing the goal of urgent acceleration of the universal health coverage index to at least 80 index points from the current 55 index points, the MOHCC has set a target of doubling the current health workforce by over 50,000 by 2030, creating and sustaining at least 32,000 additional jobs in the health sector by 2030, and reducing health workforce attrition by 50% through appropriate retention measures.
“There is therefore a 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.”
The graduation ceremony was also attended by Harare Metropolitan Minister of State for Provincial Affairs and Devolution, Senator Charles Tawengwa, hospital administrators and family members.
It is part of the government’s efforts to address the shortage of healthcare professionals at a time when Zimbabwe has been working to increase its health practitioners, improve training programmes, and upgrade infrastructure.
The nurses will be deployed to various healthcare facilities across the country, enhancing patient care and augmenting the existing workforce.
