Nurses

The Medical Registration Act was enacted in Parliament in 1980, which used to regulate and register all different cadres of health professionals in the country.

The law sets out the requirements of health professional registration and the standard under which they are to practice.

This is according to Minister for Health, Jelta Wong, he said the Government would soon launch the National Health Plan 2021-2030 and the newly released National Health Service Standards.

These documents provide the road map and guiding framework for improved health systems strengthening and health care delivery.

“Part of the focus of the plan is to increase technical and clinical training. We must ensure we have the right people with the right skills to provide health services to the people of Papua New Guinea,” Minister Wong said.

During the recent International Nurses Day celebration, a lot was said about the roles and responsibilities of nurses but most of all nursing officers were thanked and acknowledged by their superiors in the profession.

Nurses are seen as the assistants to medical officers in the health field, however in PNG it is usually a nurse or a community health worker who is on end to provide healthcare, especially in remote rural communities.

Sr. Carol Hosea, Director of Nursing at Port Moresby General Hospital (PMGH) was among those, who advocated for better support to nurses.

World Nurses day falls on the 12^th of May every year to also commemorate the birthday of Florence Nightingale, the lady of light who brought light into the nursing career to what it is today.

Nurses came in different colours depicting the many changes in their uniforms over the years since the beginning of modern day nursing since 1965.

General Secretary for the PNG Nurses Association, Gibson Siune talked about the important role of a nurse.

With doctors standing down from their jobs at the ANGAU Memorial Provincial Hospital, the COVID-19 hospital lacking emergency drugs and other critical medical supplies, the Nurses Association Morobe president, Siling Awasa, is urging citizens to protect themselves against the virus.

She outlined that sunlight (heat) contributes to the healing of multiple health conditions, including severe acute respiratory syndrome.

This was demonstrated by the experiences of current nursing scholars Yolanda Som, Steven Johnson and Joshua Kamrai.

Yolanda Som and Steven Johnson, from Morobe Province, are currently in their second year of a Diploma in General Nursing course at the Lae School of Nursing. They are part of a cohort of 10 Newcrest-funded awardees currently studying for a nursing qualification through Australia Awards scholarships. 

This was clearly shown during the data collection and registration onto the new online Health Practitioners Registration System.

But while this numbers are increasing, quality is still a need, as stressed by Michele Rumsey, the Regulation Advisor to the project.

The project required accrediting all nursing schools. This found an increase in nursing schools from 7 – 11 and midwifery schools from 4 to 5.

The symposium is hosted annually by the National Professional Health Committee in partnership with the Papua New Guinea Nurses Association (PNGNA).

The event will be held in Lae, Morobe Province from October 10-14 and has already received support from the host provincial government, the National Department of Health and other corporate sponsors.

The Government through the National Gaming and Control Board has also chipped in with K100,000.

The symposium will be held in Lae, Morobe Province from October 10-14 with over 500 nurses expected to attend.

Thomas Telepo from the National Professional Health Committee said all nurses from the urban and rural areas must attend this important event.

Telepo said most nurses, after completing their basic training, tend to work for a longer period of time without applying for more training for upskilling.

He said there is a gap in knowledge and skills as nurses do not update themselves to the current global trends in the medical field.

Preparations are well underway and nurses from both urban and rural hospitals and health facilities will travel into Lae for the week-long event.

The symposium is partly hosted by the PNG Nurses Association (PNGNA) with the theme “Nurses: A force for change, improving and strengthening health system’s resilience through public, private partnership.”

PNGNA acting vice president Fredrick Kebai explained that the theme is in line with the Government’s free health care policy where the nurses are agents of change and implementers of policies.