Date: 30/06/2006
Source: Free State Provincial Government
Title: Belot: Provincial Congress and Ten-Year Celebrations of DENOSA
Speech by the MEC of Health, Mr Sakhiwo Belot, at the Provincial Congress and Ten-Year Celebrations of the Democratic Nursing Organisation of South Africa held 30 June and 1 July at Maselspoort
Ms Sesing, Program Director,
Ms Motloung,
Ms Fransman,
Chairperson Me Motloung, Me Moleke,
PEC members,
Delegates,
Ladies and gentlemen,
It gives me great pleasure to have this yet another opportunity to interact with Democratic Nursing Association of South Africa (DENOSAs) provincial members and leadership. I am delighted to be participating in this programme with such an important theme, which I was informed is “Nurses yesterday, today and tomorrow: Claiming Back Our Professional Dignity.” It is not often common that the word or expression ‘dignity’ is used by those at the forefront of service delivery. Many structures, which represent workers sometimes tend to shy away from making such a call to their members. This is sometimes due to suspicion harboured by these structures with regards the ‘exploitation’ of their members. I am delighted that DENOSA has had the courage to make this clarion call of their members to ‘claiming back our professional dignity.”
Programme Director, it is important that I must indicate that it is not for the first time that DENOSA has made an important call to their members to show commitment to their profession and service. It is also important to remind conference those ten years ago former State President Mr Nelson Mandela made a call at the national launch of DENOSA in Pretoria in December 1996 when he said; “We wish to show our support and endorsement of the steps you are taking to unify South African nursing. The dignity of the profession will be enhanced by the quality of service rendered and success in cultivating and strengthening the caring ethos. We have great and realistic expectations of DENOSA and so does the rest of the country. Government regards you as a critical asset of our nation. You dare not let us down.” Today we are ten years down the line and we celebrate the progress made since then.
The words of Mr Mandela are my guiding light in interpreting the theme of this congress that I was requested to address. In short the meaning of the theme of that congress was basically another call for nurses to renew their commitment to their profession and it seems to me this is a continuous and an important call. I support this fully and may I offer my congratulations for 10 years of hard work, dedication, commitment and continuous improvement to nursing in the country. May DENOSA as an organisation grow from strength to strength.
Delegates, ladies and gentlemen,
In July 2005 we have hosted the second Nursing Summit under the theme of “Caring our Business.” At the conference, delegates investigated methods and mechanisms on how to bring back and reinforce quality of patient care. A firm platform was also created where issues such as organisational stress, conditions of service, mentoring and the improvement of relationships with other health care professionals were discussed. The summit also served to remind nursing personnel of their ethical and legal responsibilities towards all patients. The issue of transformation was deliberated upon extensively and although this issue is still under debate, concrete programs have kicked off to emphasise infection control mechanisms; diversity, leadership and the need for psychosocial empowerment. I am eager also to receive feedback on the implementation of the resolutions taken at the 2005 summit at the summit to be hosted during late 2006.
Ladies and gentlemen, occasions such as these and the congress here today remind us all of the utmost importance and pivotal role played by organised events where professionals in the field meet to discuss matters close to their hearts. The Free State Department of Health recognised the need to re-invest in nursing and nursing education per se.
As we are all aware the new Nursing Act, Act 33 of 2005 was signed and approved by the President of South Africa and has been published in the Government Gazette No 492 of 29 May 2006 and is currently awaiting promulgation and implementation. The Act also guides the new scope of practice for various categories of nurses, which has been work-shopped at national and provincial level.
The Department has taken the issues surrounding nursing education to a higher level and I am please to provide delegates here with the following summary:
1. I am excited about the development of new qualifications for various categories of nursing at national level. This is done in partnership with the Department of Health, South African Nursing Council (SANC) and the Standard Generating Body for Nursing. These qualifications will endeavour to re-enforce a caring ethos into nursing within an academic environment of life long learning and personal development.
2. An Extended Nursing Education Programme (ENEP) for the Free State was developed to meet the training requirements of the province and alleviate nursing personnel shortages. The program was approved in September 2005 and subsequently the student intake within the diploma in nursing (General, psychiatry, community nursing) and Midwifery increased 100 percent. We now have 250 first year students.
3. In order to accommodate many students within the ambit of the available resources and the responsibility, which each government department has to the taxpayer, students were placed on a substantial bursary package a system, which is aligned with Higher Education and Training (HET).
4. Ladies and gentlemen, in line with the aforementioned programme we are currently investigating a unified nursing education model for nursing education in the Free State. This model proposes the incorporation of hospital nursing schools as well as the presentation of Further Education and Training (FET) level programmes into the Free State School of Nursing. This will enhance quality assurance within nursing education in the Free State, while at the same time enhancing communication and personnel development between the two sectors and providing greater mobility for students between campuses and also programmes. It will also contribute to career pathing of students in accordance with individual needs.
5. Our new approach to nursing education has also placed emphasis on the Batho Pele Principles right from the first year of training. Students are sensitised about community needs and a community based approach to education has been adopted with various community projects being presented where communities are assisted to address their own health deficits by taking responsibility for their own health.
6. An Academic Planning and Development Unit has been established to enhance the development of nursing education programmes and to assist with the development of lecturers and other professional persons. This unit has recently in liaison with the pharmacy department, co-ordinated and assisted in the presentation and assessment of persons in the dispensing of medicines to ensure that practitioners working in the province are well trained and meet the legislative requirements for dispensing.
7. I am proud to say that the Free State School of Nursing is a member of the Free State Higher Education Consortium and as such been participating in various projects of the consortium.
a) One such project is related to the recognition of prior learning where students who do not attain access to the programmes offered due to being from a disadvantaged backgrounds but have demonstrated a clear interest in the profession by some form of learning in this direction, are given the opportunity to demonstrate their ability to attain success in the programme for which they wish to register.
b) Another project is related to libraries and learning resource centres where nursing education within the Free State was boosted by the provision of literature to the value of R100,000 in an effort to make more learning material accessible to the students registered within the Free State.
8. We are also engaging with student bodies and are encouraging them to take more responsibility for their academic development and the development and maintenance of professional standards within the profession. They are seen not just as the leaders of the students, but the nurse leaders of tomorrow.
Program Director, over and above the progress made with nursing education and its various aspects the Free State Department of Health has for the study year which started in January 2006, allocated bursaries to 332 students. 232 students received full time bursaries and 100 employees are studying part time.
Bursaries have been allocated in the following academic programmes:
* MB CHB (Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (11),
* Diploma in Nursing and Midwifery (200),
* Diploma in Clinical Technology (11),
* Diploma in Emergency Medical Care (10).
We have also allocated part time bursaries to students studying: * Advanced University Diploma in Advanced Midwifery and Neonatology (18);
* Advanced University Diploma in Psychiatric Nursing (26);
* Advanced University Diploma in Primary Health Care Nursing (46);
* Advanced University Diploma in Forensic Nursing (8) and
* Postgraduate studies in Disaster Management (2).
Ladies and gentlemen, as you can see our focus with the R14,6 million available for this year is on the careers of nursing and medical doctors. The allocations reflect the department’s commitment to development and to address scarce categories of health professions. We have prioritised the training of nurses with an additional amount of R6 million being made available for this purpose to the Free State School of Nursing. This is an increase from the allocation of last year, which was R2,4million.
In conclusion, I want to take this opportunity to wish you well in you provincial election congress deliberations. I am looking forward to a further interaction with you in the near future.
I thank you!
Issued by: Department of Heath, Free State Provincial Government
30 June 2006
Source: Free State Provincial Government
Title: Belot: Provincial Congress and Ten-Year Celebrations of DENOSA
Speech by the MEC of Health, Mr Sakhiwo Belot, at the Provincial Congress and Ten-Year Celebrations of the Democratic Nursing Organisation of South Africa held 30 June and 1 July at Maselspoort
Ms Sesing, Program Director,
Ms Motloung,
Ms Fransman,
Chairperson Me Motloung, Me Moleke,
PEC members,
Delegates,
Ladies and gentlemen,
It gives me great pleasure to have this yet another opportunity to interact with Democratic Nursing Association of South Africa (DENOSAs) provincial members and leadership. I am delighted to be participating in this programme with such an important theme, which I was informed is “Nurses yesterday, today and tomorrow: Claiming Back Our Professional Dignity.” It is not often common that the word or expression ‘dignity’ is used by those at the forefront of service delivery. Many structures, which represent workers sometimes tend to shy away from making such a call to their members. This is sometimes due to suspicion harboured by these structures with regards the ‘exploitation’ of their members. I am delighted that DENOSA has had the courage to make this clarion call of their members to ‘claiming back our professional dignity.”
Programme Director, it is important that I must indicate that it is not for the first time that DENOSA has made an important call to their members to show commitment to their profession and service. It is also important to remind conference those ten years ago former State President Mr Nelson Mandela made a call at the national launch of DENOSA in Pretoria in December 1996 when he said; “We wish to show our support and endorsement of the steps you are taking to unify South African nursing. The dignity of the profession will be enhanced by the quality of service rendered and success in cultivating and strengthening the caring ethos. We have great and realistic expectations of DENOSA and so does the rest of the country. Government regards you as a critical asset of our nation. You dare not let us down.” Today we are ten years down the line and we celebrate the progress made since then.
The words of Mr Mandela are my guiding light in interpreting the theme of this congress that I was requested to address. In short the meaning of the theme of that congress was basically another call for nurses to renew their commitment to their profession and it seems to me this is a continuous and an important call. I support this fully and may I offer my congratulations for 10 years of hard work, dedication, commitment and continuous improvement to nursing in the country. May DENOSA as an organisation grow from strength to strength.
Delegates, ladies and gentlemen,
In July 2005 we have hosted the second Nursing Summit under the theme of “Caring our Business.” At the conference, delegates investigated methods and mechanisms on how to bring back and reinforce quality of patient care. A firm platform was also created where issues such as organisational stress, conditions of service, mentoring and the improvement of relationships with other health care professionals were discussed. The summit also served to remind nursing personnel of their ethical and legal responsibilities towards all patients. The issue of transformation was deliberated upon extensively and although this issue is still under debate, concrete programs have kicked off to emphasise infection control mechanisms; diversity, leadership and the need for psychosocial empowerment. I am eager also to receive feedback on the implementation of the resolutions taken at the 2005 summit at the summit to be hosted during late 2006.
Ladies and gentlemen, occasions such as these and the congress here today remind us all of the utmost importance and pivotal role played by organised events where professionals in the field meet to discuss matters close to their hearts. The Free State Department of Health recognised the need to re-invest in nursing and nursing education per se.
As we are all aware the new Nursing Act, Act 33 of 2005 was signed and approved by the President of South Africa and has been published in the Government Gazette No 492 of 29 May 2006 and is currently awaiting promulgation and implementation. The Act also guides the new scope of practice for various categories of nurses, which has been work-shopped at national and provincial level.
The Department has taken the issues surrounding nursing education to a higher level and I am please to provide delegates here with the following summary:
1. I am excited about the development of new qualifications for various categories of nursing at national level. This is done in partnership with the Department of Health, South African Nursing Council (SANC) and the Standard Generating Body for Nursing. These qualifications will endeavour to re-enforce a caring ethos into nursing within an academic environment of life long learning and personal development.
2. An Extended Nursing Education Programme (ENEP) for the Free State was developed to meet the training requirements of the province and alleviate nursing personnel shortages. The program was approved in September 2005 and subsequently the student intake within the diploma in nursing (General, psychiatry, community nursing) and Midwifery increased 100 percent. We now have 250 first year students.
3. In order to accommodate many students within the ambit of the available resources and the responsibility, which each government department has to the taxpayer, students were placed on a substantial bursary package a system, which is aligned with Higher Education and Training (HET).
4. Ladies and gentlemen, in line with the aforementioned programme we are currently investigating a unified nursing education model for nursing education in the Free State. This model proposes the incorporation of hospital nursing schools as well as the presentation of Further Education and Training (FET) level programmes into the Free State School of Nursing. This will enhance quality assurance within nursing education in the Free State, while at the same time enhancing communication and personnel development between the two sectors and providing greater mobility for students between campuses and also programmes. It will also contribute to career pathing of students in accordance with individual needs.
5. Our new approach to nursing education has also placed emphasis on the Batho Pele Principles right from the first year of training. Students are sensitised about community needs and a community based approach to education has been adopted with various community projects being presented where communities are assisted to address their own health deficits by taking responsibility for their own health.
6. An Academic Planning and Development Unit has been established to enhance the development of nursing education programmes and to assist with the development of lecturers and other professional persons. This unit has recently in liaison with the pharmacy department, co-ordinated and assisted in the presentation and assessment of persons in the dispensing of medicines to ensure that practitioners working in the province are well trained and meet the legislative requirements for dispensing.
7. I am proud to say that the Free State School of Nursing is a member of the Free State Higher Education Consortium and as such been participating in various projects of the consortium.
a) One such project is related to the recognition of prior learning where students who do not attain access to the programmes offered due to being from a disadvantaged backgrounds but have demonstrated a clear interest in the profession by some form of learning in this direction, are given the opportunity to demonstrate their ability to attain success in the programme for which they wish to register.
b) Another project is related to libraries and learning resource centres where nursing education within the Free State was boosted by the provision of literature to the value of R100,000 in an effort to make more learning material accessible to the students registered within the Free State.
8. We are also engaging with student bodies and are encouraging them to take more responsibility for their academic development and the development and maintenance of professional standards within the profession. They are seen not just as the leaders of the students, but the nurse leaders of tomorrow.
Program Director, over and above the progress made with nursing education and its various aspects the Free State Department of Health has for the study year which started in January 2006, allocated bursaries to 332 students. 232 students received full time bursaries and 100 employees are studying part time.
Bursaries have been allocated in the following academic programmes:
* MB CHB (Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (11),
* Diploma in Nursing and Midwifery (200),
* Diploma in Clinical Technology (11),
* Diploma in Emergency Medical Care (10).
We have also allocated part time bursaries to students studying: * Advanced University Diploma in Advanced Midwifery and Neonatology (18);
* Advanced University Diploma in Psychiatric Nursing (26);
* Advanced University Diploma in Primary Health Care Nursing (46);
* Advanced University Diploma in Forensic Nursing (8) and
* Postgraduate studies in Disaster Management (2).
Ladies and gentlemen, as you can see our focus with the R14,6 million available for this year is on the careers of nursing and medical doctors. The allocations reflect the department’s commitment to development and to address scarce categories of health professions. We have prioritised the training of nurses with an additional amount of R6 million being made available for this purpose to the Free State School of Nursing. This is an increase from the allocation of last year, which was R2,4million.
In conclusion, I want to take this opportunity to wish you well in you provincial election congress deliberations. I am looking forward to a further interaction with you in the near future.
I thank you!
Issued by: Department of Heath, Free State Provincial Government
30 June 2006
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