The training of nurses in 2020 is in jeopardy because of extensive delays at key regulatory authorities, which must provide fresh accreditation to all training institutions following a change in the curriculum and training requirements, reports Business Live.
The Council for Higher Education (CHE) says that the government’s plans to switch to new qualifications require that the training institutions be re-accredited by the SA Nursing Council (SANC), which has largely not been done.
According to the report, the SANC, in turn, says the department of higher education must also shoulder some of the blame, as it has yet to declare public nursing colleges institutions of higher education. It means the country is facing a potential shortage of nursing skills, which will be particularly acute in specialist areas such as psychiatry, theatre and critical care, which will hit home in several years’ time.
The report says, according to CHE president Narend Baijnath, one of South Africa’s nine provincial colleges, which educate almost three-quarters of the country’s nurses, have the requisite approvals in place to begin enrolling students for the new qualifications in January. Nor do any of the universities and technicons, and all but a handful of private nursing colleges.
[link url="https://www.businesslive.co.za/bd/national/health/2019-08-26-training-of-nurses-choked-by-red-tape/"]Business Live report[/link]