BY MBONO MDLULI
MBABANE – Institutions that produce nurses should start doing so with the goal of exporting such skilled professionals to the international community.
This was said by Prime Minister Russell Mmiso Dlamini today at Hilton Garden Inn, Mbabane. This was when he launched the Nursing Leadership Initiative (NLI). The prime minister’s statement was based on his belief that nurses could not be absorbed by the country’s economy.
“Our strategies at all levels, be it at tertiary level or at production level in our industries, must be oriented towards export because our economy is small. It cannot absorb all that it can produce – personnel or products alike,” Dlamini said.
The prime minister also mentioned that it was important for this industry to also focus on attrition. When he talked about attrition, the room in which the launch was held suddenly went quiet, yet they were clapping hands when the premier was making his remarks.
The sudden deafening silence was even noted by the prime minster, who told them that he noted the silence and he noted that his utterances were discouraging the nurses who were present. However, the premier urged the nurses to shift their mindsets towards these things to better the profession. He said the issue of attrition had to be faced because it was the truth.
He further encouraged nurses to shift their focus from treatment to prevention. According to the prime minister, this industry disproportionately focused on treatment. Therefore, strategies needed to focus on prevention to reduce the number of people who died because of this.
The NLI has been supported by the President’s Emergency Plan For AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). The prime minister said this relief represented an aid that was there to help Eswatini achieve its health goals. He commended the nurses for being a backbone of the country’s health sector because all patients were managed by nurses.
