More nurses sought More

THE increase in population coupled with high number of retiring nurses would reduce the health workforce by half, says a doctor.
Curative services director of National Capital District Health Authority Dr Michael Dokup said during the graduation of nurses from Tuna Bay School of Nursing last Friday that there is a need for more nurses in the workforce.
Dokup said: “Papua New Guinea faces a health workforce supply crisis, arising from; the current severely constrained training for new health workforce, the rapid aging of the existing workforce where more than half of the current health workforce will retire within a decade, and the expanding demand for services over the next 10 to 20 years due to the sustained increase of the population.
“There is shortage of health workers, we have to help each other close the disparity and gaps in this workforce, support private nursing colleges like Tuna Bay School of Nursing and other institutions for quality human resource in this respect.
“We, doctors, only diagnose patients and prescribe medication or attend to people not as often as nurses would do, attending to the needs of every patient.
“The need for facilities and hospitals have to be upgraded or refurbished so that health workers learn in a competent environment and provide care.”
Dokup challenged the Government and the provincial health authorities to build better facilities, “so that our trainees can train in good facilities to become the best”.
“The facilities that we have, must be upgraded, renovated to bring them up to standard, so that doctors or nurses can train well to give the best service to people,” he said.