Ninety-eight nurses have been enlisted on Short-Term Contracts (STC) at the Port Moresby General Hospital (PMGH) to address the prevailing shortage of manpower in the nursing sector.
The recruitment drive aims to bolster patient care quality amid a glaring deficiency in staffing levels.
PMGH's chief executive officer, Dr. Paki Molumi, disclosed that the current nursing workforce stands at 800, a stark shortfall against the requisite 3,000 nurses imperative for optimal patient care delivery.
Dr. Molumi emphasized the criticality of augmenting the workforce, asserting that compromised patient care cannot be countenanced.
"This influx of STC nurses is instrumental in bridging the gaps. Their tenure spans six months, during which we endeavour to collaborate with the Department of Personnel Management to establish permanent positions," Dr. Molumi affirmed.
In a bid to fortify the nursing cadre, PMGH eyes an annual recruitment target of 200 nurses over the next six years, culminating in 2,000 nursing personnel by 2030.
Commending the newly onboarded nurses, Dr. Molumi extolled their privilege to serve at the institution, exhorting them to excel during their tenure.
Furthermore, PMGH is crafting specialized nursing curricula encompassing cardiac, cancer, renal, and other domains slated for rollout before 2025.
Dr. Molumi elucidated plans to carve out career pathways, nurturing specialist nurses in diverse disciplines predicated on performance benchmarks within the hospital milieu.
Expressing gratitude for management's backing, Deputy Director of Nursing Administration, Victor Vetari, underscored the imperative of heightened staff-management collaborations as pivotal to institutional progress.
After the nurse recruitment initiative, an orientation program convened on January 23rd to furnish recruits with insights into PMGH's operational ethos, delineating Human Resource protocols, Infection Prevention Control mandates, occupational health and safety imperatives, and attendant roles and responsibilities.