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Cosatu concerned that nurses had to ‘highlight their plight’ on street corners

The Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) is concerned that unemployed nurses “had to go to the extent of standing at street corners to highlight their plight” in Bloemfontein.

The federation on Wednesday also called the Free State Provincial Government to explore ways to resolve the “double-edged problem of unemployed nurses whilst those within the system are seriously overworked”.

Cosatu said it “fully supports the stand taken by the nurses‚ which it said “have just completed their community services and remaining unemployed”.

“What we know is that Cosatu members who are nurses at both clinics and hospitals are currently seriously overworked due to increased incidence of ill-health and perpetually decreasing nurse professionals in employment.

“Our members are subjected to very strenuous situations due to shortage of staff and the demands of the profession.

“We are concerned that more and more of our members who are nurses are pushed to a burn-out situation despite their love for the profession due to unfavourable working conditions.”

The union grouping said it commended the Democratic Nursing Organisation of South Africa for “creating a platform for these professional workers to highlight their plight”.

“The provincial government is called upon to prioritise health services and do everything in its power to remedy the situation in health.”

 

– TMG Digital

 

 

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