DENOSA celebrates International Nurses Day (IND)
The Democratic Nursing Organisation of South Africa joins the world in celebrating International Nurses Day tomorrow May 12, 2011.
The International Council of Nurses (ICN) in 1974 proclaimed 12 May International Nurses Day (IND).Since then nurses across the globe gather to celebrate IND in commemoration of Florence Nightingales birth who is known to be the creator of contemporary nursing.   Nurses converge every year on 12 May to reflect on the valuable contributions that they have made to society. IND also seeks to honour the dedication and tireless efforts that nurses bring to the health care community, being the main drivers for service delivery of health care at all levels. As DENOSA we advocate for patients, it is largely for this reason that we are excited by this years IND theme "Closing the Gap: Increasing Access and Equity".
This talks directly to our viewpoint that none of our people should be deprived of their right to access healthcare for any reason.
We have been encouraged by recent events that have taken place where nurses have been brought together to discuss strategies on how to improve the quality of care given to people. These include the South African Nurses Conference organized by DENOSA and the National Nursing Summit organized by the Department of Health. Both these events have agreed that in line with addressing the conditions of service for nurses, there is a strong need to improve the quality of care and its accessibility.
We are wary of the persisting challenges that include gross-staff shortages, increasing workload and lack of resources which are making it difficult for nurses to execute their duties. Hence we find it necessary for us - DENOSA, Department of Health and all other stakeholders to work together to address the challenges facing nurses in dealing with accessibility and equity in service delivery to our communities.
As we celebrate this day we must note and learn from the tireless efforts of South African Nurse Pioneers such as Professor Philda Nzimande (Leadership), Professor Leanna Uys (Education), David Spamandla (Clinical) and many others who have gained global prominence in unifying, transforming and taking the nursing profession to a higher level.
DENOSA continues and will continue to pursue one of its founding principles- that of unifying nurses and ensuring that their voice is heard!
DENOSA acknowledges the increased burden of chronic diseases such as diabetes, TB, cancer and HIV and AIDS in Sub-Saharan Africa. We recognize the need to then equip and empower our nurses with relevant information and skills. We achieve this through the TB and HIV/AIDS training programmes and the DENOSA Professional Institute (DPI) that provides education, training and professional development to nurses.
DPI mainly focuses towards transforming nursing education, leadership development and research productivity amongst nurses in South Africa. DPI also aims to maintain ethical and
professional conduct in nursing and provide quality care to society, through its courses and programs.
We wish all our nurses a Happy International Nurses Day - your contributions and sacrifices have not gone unnoticed.
DENOSA supports all celebrations in various hospitals and clinics.