The Democratic Nursing Organisation of South Africa (DENOSA) has come out to defend the actions of its members who placed newborn babies in boxes, instead of incubators, in the North West Province.
The nursing union says that the Department of Health should not blame its members but rather the shortage of resources.
This follows the North West Health Department saying it will take action against nurses involved in the incident.
DENOSA’s provincial chairperson Mzwakhe Seleke explains, “The issues that were on the ground on the day was that the shortages and the overcrowding of the wards. Both the management and the CEO were made aware. The interventions that were put in place in the ward were also communicated to management. It is our view that the management of that hospital are really playing duck and dive, they just want to pin this whole thing on the nurses, who were trying their best to deal and salvage the situation.”
North West Health Dept to take action after newborn babies placed on boxes instead of incubators:
