nurses - The African Mirror

Feb

2023

Workers stage largest strike in history of Britain’s health service

SACHIN RAVIKUMAR and NATALIE THOMAS TENS of thousands of nurses and ambulance service staff walked off the job in a pay dispute, putting further strain on Britain's state-run National Health Service with their largest-ever strike. Nurses and ambulance workers have been striking separately since late last year but Monday's walkout involving both, largely in England, is the biggest in the 75-year history of the NHS. Nurses will also walk out on Tuesday, ambulance staff on Friday, and physiotherapists Thursday, making the week probably the most disruptive in NHS history, its Medical Director Stephen Powis said. Health workers are demanding a…

Feb

2021

By The African Mirror

Rural South African nurses fear being forgotten in vaccine roll-out

COVID-19

SOUTH African nurses called on the government on Monday to ensure overstretched workers in rural clinics and hospitals get access to COVID-19 vaccines as the hard-hit country received its first batch of doses. Rural nurses have reported shortages of personal protective equipment (PPE) such as face masks during the pandemic and - with few detailed announcements about inoculation plans for remote areas - many fear they could be last in line. “Healthcare workers’ hands are full as we speak, we are very concerned about overstretching them to breaking point,” said Sibongiseni Delihlazo, spokesman for the Democratic Nursing Organisation of South Africa (DENOSA),…

Nov

2020

By The African Mirror

Nurses are playing a bigger role than ever in the fight against HIV – they deserve more support

HEALTH

THE World Health Organisation marked 2020 as the year of the nurse and the midwife. As this challenging year comes to a close, it is imperative to reflect on the resilience and impact of nurses in the fight against the HIV epidemic. JERRY JOHN NUTOR, Assistant Professor, Family Health Care Nursing, University of California, San Francisco The first cases of HIV were reported in 1981. Since then, nurses all over the world have been at the forefront of the fight against the epidemic. They have stepped up to provide skilled care for those infected and affected by the virus. An…

Jul

2020

By The African Mirror

Seven babies stillborn in one night at Zimbabwe hospital as nurses strike

NEWS

SEVEN babies were stillborn in one night at a major Zimbabwean hospital this week because their mothers did not get adequate medical care due to a nurses' strike, doctors said, as a dispute over working conditions cripples hospitals. Nurses went on strike countrywide last month demanding U.S. dollar salaries, which the government says it cannot afford. That has left government hospitals with skeleton staff and doctors and senior nurses stretched at a time when the country is grappling with rising COVID-19 cases. Out of eight pregnant women who underwent caesarean sections on Monday night at Sally Mugabe Hospital, the biggest…