Special Hearings — Health Sector Hearings — 1997-06-18

UNKNOWN: I raised the question particularly because it seems that it's important that nurses feel that they have the Nursing Association supporting them in whatever activities they're about and that when it comes to issues of discipline and registration and so on, that that body is autonomous and not influenced by the decisions within the Association, and so I raised that because of that struggle.  The Council has made an honest attempt at examining the past and we really do want to thank you for your presentation, but we also would like you to help us explore just one of the recommendations that you make.
 Can you just elaborate a little bit on the Council's recommendation to preserve and promote the image of the Nursing Profession?  What does that mean, and how can the Council be involved in doing that?

UNKNOWN: Chairperson, the South African Interim Nursing Council has been working very hard on this particular matter because we were tremendously concerned at the poor image of the Nursing Council and the development of a poor image of the nursing profession in the country.  We've done several things to combat that over the past two years.
 First, with relation to the developing poor image of the nursing profession in the country, a launching of a campaign to stress nursing as a caring profession.  
 Also a campaign to make nurses more aware of the Council's rehabilitative approach in professional conduct matters so that the image of Council being a punitive body could change.  
 And then there's a concerted effort from the Council side to move towards becoming more involved in monitoring the standards of nursing practice in health institutions, because the Council realises that it's built up the image of an ivory tower over the years.  Nurses are striking, they are dissatisfied with what's going on in the health services because of the poor conditions under which they work and the Council has always taken a stand against that and only regarded the interests of the patient in this regard. 
 Now Council realises that a lot of dissatisfaction among the members of the profession is there because of the poor conditions under which nurses work.  For that reason there's proposed amendment of the Nursing Act to make it possible for Council to also inspect the conditions going on in health services in order to make recommendations and to help nurses with regard to that.  
 So that the emphasis will in future not only on the interests of the community but also on the interests of the nurse and the rights of the nurse to have the facilities and the conditions worthy of to give proper care to the community. 
 So there's a definite shift in emphasis in the approach of Council towards its own image and the image of the profession.

UNKNOWN: I've asked the  Chairperson for indulgence.  He is not very happy with me about that but I just need to slip in one more question and that's related to standards that the Nursing Council may or may not be considering in relation to training for health and human rights, I'm not talking specifically about the nursing ethics training but specifically around health and human rights with specific emphasis on the treatment of detainees, treatment of prisoners and the treatment of people who have been severely ill treated in vulnerable situations.

TCHIPIWA MAUMELA: Ma'am the approach of the Interim Nursing Council to specifically the issue that you raise is currently under review.  As you may be aware, there are different sub-committees within the Nursing Council, specifically the Laws Committee is busy reformulating with a view to make
suggestions to amend some of these regulations in order to take on board all human rights considerations.  
 We are also tapping from the experiences of the past.  We are also keeping our ear to the ground with regard to developments, even from the Constitutional Court, and also having a look at the interim and both the current constitution of the country so that we can be able to avoid visciating against those considerations.

UNKNOWN: Thank you very much, I hand you back to the Chair.

FRANK GERMISHUIZEN: Chairperson might I just add a sentence to this, grant me your indulgence.  Ms Radebe is the chairperson of the Transformation Committee which is a new committee formed by this Interim Council and one of its functions is to monitor how the other committees are transforming, and that would include the Education Committee. So the Transformation Committee is looking at what improvements are being brought into the training regulations to address issues such as has been raised.  Thank you Sir.

CHAIRPERSON: Ms Mkhize has just one question.

MS MKHIZE: Just a quick one from me.  I was looking at page three of your document where you referred to the formation of surrogate Nursing Councils in the Homelands. My question really moves beyond professional structures but around the human rights and patient care. In those settings we have heard people coming before the Commission talking about how they died in the hands of nurses, mainly because the nurses were from the neighbourhood and they knew them very well.  There were divisions, ideological differences and I was wondering whether you are aware of those problems in the Nursing Profession?
 And if you are aware as to whether you have thought of any possible rehabilitation programmes which might assist those nurses who found themselves in the position where they will be influenced by their ideological persuasions in caring for people who appear before the health (...indistinct)?

TCHIPIWA MAUMELA: I will say there is a programme in place but it certainly becomes one of the issues that is being looked at.  We are aware that the nurse, like any other health worker, has been used as a tool to perpetuate some of the atrocities.  But with regard to having a programme in place, I think that is something that hasn't started as yet, most probably because one tends to feel that to a certain extent some of the activities within the Interim Nursing Council should not have the effect of preempting some of the bigger processes like we have the TRC and we have other people coming up with civil cases because of specific instances. But we realise even now, the need to change the mindset and I think it's going to be a process.  It cannot be an overnight kind of a project and for that we also rely heavily on advices and guidance from other sources, even including yourselves.