By Agness Changala
Health Professions Council of Zambia (HPCZ) has urged newly recruited health workers to embrace a positive attitude during the course of their work.
And Zambia Union of Nurses Organization (ZUNO) president Frey Michelo said there was a need for more recruitment of health workers as the current numbers are not enough to meet the demands of the citizens of this country.
Commenting on the recruitment of 3,000 health workers HPCZ public relations manager Terry Musonda said one may be knowledgeable and skilled but if they have bad or negative attitude, everything they do will be watered down.
“From a regulatory point of view and what we have been getting from social media and coming through the public out there, I think issues of altitude are also critical so in addition to the three hallmarks which are knowledge, practice and competence, we are saying altitude altitude and altitude, it’s very critical if somebody is knowledgeable, well skilled and able to practice, with bad and negative attitude everything they do is watered down,” he said.
Musonda also urged health workers to be as ethical and professional as they can when they start working.
He observed that human resources for health are an important ingredient in the provision and delivery of quality health care to the community.
“So this is something which is commendable and we want to welcome and congratulate the new health workers. Since they have been given the opportunity to work, they need to prioritise the patients as they embark on their work,” said Musonda.
And ZUNO president Michelo said he was happy that out of the 3,000 health workers recruited, 1,580 nurses and midwives belonged to his union.
He said there was a need for more recruitment of health workers as the current numbers are not enough to meet the demands of the citizens of this country.
“We know that the population is growing therefore, we need more recruitment to be done. And we are happy to learn that in 2024, there will be more recruitments,” he said.
He said going forward, as much as the union wanted more numbers to be employed, it would also want expansion of the establishment.
“Because we know that the establishment for the Ministry of Health is so lean. It’s not responding to the facilities that are there actually. For example, we have facilities that have been upgraded meaning that the upgraded facilities will also require an upgraded establishment in terms of the numbers. So that one indeed has been lacking where institutions are upgraded or built the establishment has remained the same,” said Michelo.
