International Nurses Day, celebrated on 12 May, is an opportunity to give a well-deserved thank you to all the nurses who sacrifice so much to ensure that our city has quality healthcare services.
It is a day when nurses can get together and reflect on their profession and consider their contributions to the well-being of the communities within our city and the country.
To all the nurses, this is your special day.
I passionately believe that nursing is not a profession that you can go into without being called to it. It’s a profession where such care is required can only be a calling. CARE is an acronym we in the Health Department use frequently and is broken down as being Called to Act with passion, Respond with compassion and Execute with military precision.
I am proud to say that despite facing many challenges, most of our nursing staff in the city CARE. Healthcare provision remains a challenge not only in South Africa but globally. It goes without saying that nurses remain at the forefront of the healthcare system.
Your effort in delivering this care, from all our clinics within the city, has not gone unnoticed. As nurses, you are an integral component of our community as well as the healthcare sector and remain important resources within the city.
Nurses in the city have had to cope with the expansion of services, the introduction of new services and increases in patient loads. Emerging and persistent health conditions and diseases such as HIV/Aids, TB, Covid-19 and an increase in some non-communicable and communicable diseases have also compounded increased patient loads, adding pressure to already strained resources and nursing staff.
Along with the management of the Health Directorate, you have faced this challenge with commitment, dedication and resourcefulness and you have all provided the foundation for a number of success stories that are in the process of evolving into a holistic approach to health care as prescribed by the current National Health Act. As City Health, we might not be at the summit, but we are certainly on the way and going in the right direction. On our journey forwards, may the challenges lessen, and the fruits of your endeavours prevail.
On my visits to the clinics, I have been able to acknowledge the seriousness of staff shortages across the city, making me even more grateful for your contributions while understanding the situation in which you are placed. As a city we must ensure that we constantly find new ways to support our nurses.
Your commitment has not gone unnoticed and I thank you all for that. There will be many more challenges to come, so let us turn these challenges into opportunities and successes for all our communities, our city, and our country.
ENDS
For media queries, please contact:
Ewan Botha
Deputy Director: Communications and Stakeholder Management
Office of the MMC for Health and Social Development
067 412 6966
12/05/2022
