Nursing colleges not in good health - minister

Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi has gazetted regulations to force nursing colleges to improve the quality of their teaching.

The regulations came into effect on Friday and were announced by Motsoaledi yesterday.

The minister said evidence showed that nursing standards had dropped and that nurses' morale was low.

The regulations state that, by 2015, all nursing colleges will have to register as higher education and training institutions with the Council of Higher Education.

This means about 300 operational nursing colleges will not only be regulated by the SA Nursing Council, but will also have to meet university standards. The qualifications of teachers and lecturers will be scrutinised.

Motsoaledi said: "Gone are the days when nurses could be judged by the province they studied in."

Dr Kobie Marais, head of nursing at Steve Biko Academic Hospital in Pretoria, said she witnessed the effects of poorly trained nurses daily.

She told Motsoaledi the training provided by some of the private colleges at present did not help to improve the nurses' skills.

"When they become professional nurses I expect them to be able to run wards and teach junior nurses. But they can't," Marais said.

Motsoaledi also launched a five-year strategy yesterday.

One of the authors of the strategy, Wits nursing professor Judy Bruce, said compulsory training for existing nurses would be introduced to improve the quality of nursing.

The plan lists challenges in the nursing sector, including nurses having to change light bulbs, operate as ambulance drivers, serve as undertakers and work in poorly equipped facilities.

The nursing council said patients' complaints about nurses had increased threefold since the 1990s.