There will be student nurses

There will be an intake of firstyear nursing students, but first the department of health has to make sure that they will be able to pay for the study materials for these students.

Gauteng health MEC, Gwen Ramokgopa, said it is important to share with the public that about 1 000 nurses leave the healthcare services in Gauteng every year.

“So there is no way that we will not take first-year students in. Those students who have already gone through the screening are indeed part of the first group that we will be taking in.

“It is just a matter of making sure that by the time we take them there are finances available to pay for their bursaries, accommodation and all their training materials.

“I am also very excited that they will be getting their training material on Ipads this year and we will announce the date when they will start in due course,” Ramokgopa said.

She was speaking at the Dr George Mukhari Hospital in Garankuwa, north of Pretoria, where she launched the PET CT imaging system as part of concerted efforts to boost service delivery and fast-track diagnosis of patients suffering from cancer.

This system is the first of its kind on the African continent.

It will contribute tremendously towards effective management of patients for better clinical outcome, improve the training and production of healthcare professionals as well as sustaining the efforts to improve medical research for the benefit of finding solutions to the burden of disease in our poorer communities to receive the first of its kind PET CT imaging system on the African continent.

She told journalists that they also have second and third-year students who are currently studying at various institutions.

The MEC said part of the training of their nurses is “to make sure we deal with the number of nurses that are leaving the health system”.

“Nurses are the backbone of the healthcare system in South Africa and it is an area that is of priority,” Ramokgopa said.

There is no way that we will not take first year students in. Those students who have already gone through the screening are indeed part of the first group that we will be taking in.

Dr Gwen Ramokgopa Gauteng health MEC