NONM commend govt for fostering good relationship with nurses

NONM commend govt for fostering good relationship with nurses 

The nurses union, National Organisation of Nurses and Midwives of Malawi (NONM) says there is hope that nurses welfare and the health sector in general will continue to improve because of the healthy relationship between the organisation and Malawi government.

The Executive Director for NONM Harriet Bwanali made the remarks in Lilongwe on Friday at the opening of Biannual meeting of the organization where the Minister of Health Dr. Jean Kalirani was the guest of honor.

Bwanali said for the past two years the organization has made some positive strides in the course of improving nurse’s welfare and capacity building because the Ministry of Health has been keen to work with and listen to NONM on critical issues it has been raising to government.

She pointed out several achievements that the organization has made so far which she said are the signs of the positive relationship between the organization and the Ministry. She among others mentioned that the organization has had in several occasions meeting with Government Negotiation Team to discuss on salary adjustment for nurses where positive response was made as salary was adjusted to 34% increase and that another increment has been made recently.

The NONM Executive Director added that through such discussions several houses have been built in various health centres and currently there are nurses and midwife technicians in all Malawi Health Science colleges upgrading to state registered nurses.

“For the past two years we have seen that there is improvement, we can seat around the table.  The Ministry has been inviting us and we have been included in several technical working groups. This means we have a voice in those technical working groups and we just hope that we will continue to enjoy such type of relationship between government and ourselves as a union” said Bwanali

She added that since government began to recognize NONM such good relationship is also spreading to other professional bodies that have in the past years denied NONM to seat and look at issues together.

“In the past years when we were starting as a union other bodies looked at us as an enemy because they thought we were just cleaning our dirty linen in the public, but what we are doing now is to look at issues, sit down and discuss together and move forward”

On the importance of this Biannual meeting which is to end on Sunday 30^th November and is expected to elect its President, Bwanali said “This meeting is for us to look at issues that we can put on the agenda for lobbying and advocacy, and as we do that we are looking at improving the care that we give to the population of Malawi.”

But in her remarks Minister of Health Hon Jean Kalirani also applauded NONM for being one of the health institutions that is working hard fighting for the improvement of nurses’ welfare and their professional growth.

Kalirani said NONM efforts are assisting government in retention of nurses as well as making sure that nurses are ethical in their duty. She therefore pledged that government will work out on challenges that nurses are facing in the country including making sure that there is no interruptions in medical supplies essential for the work of nurses particularly drug stock-outs in the countries hospitals.

The minister while acknowledging the shortage of nurses in the country, she stated that government will try its best to ensure that more nurses are being trained but emphasized that nurses should be ethical and professional as they do their noble duty of treating patients.