{"id":97657,"date":"2025-05-13T10:19:04","date_gmt":"2025-05-13T08:19:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/?p=97657"},"modified":"2025-05-13T10:19:04","modified_gmt":"2025-05-13T08:19:04","slug":"nurses-at-the-frontline-health-department-urges-protection-amid-ongoing-attacks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/nurses-at-the-frontline-health-department-urges-protection-amid-ongoing-attacks\/","title":{"rendered":"Nurses at the Frontline: Health Department Urges Protection Amid Ongoing Attacks"},"content":{"rendered":"

Neelam Rahim | neelam@radioislam.co.za<\/a> <\/em>
\n3-minute read<\/em>
\n13 May 2025 | 08:18 CAT<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"

As South Africa marks International Nurses Day, concerns mount over safety, burnout, and staffing shortages in the country\u2019s healthcare system.<\/p><\/div>\n

As South Africa joins the world in commemorating International Nurses Day, the spotlight has again been cast on the critical \u2014 yet often dangerous \u2014 role nurses play in the country\u2019s strained public healthcare system.<\/p>\n

The Department of Health has sounded the alarm on the urgent need to safeguard healthcare workers, with spokesperson Foster Mohale describing nurses as bearing \u201cthe brunt of the dysfunctional public health system.\u201d<\/p>\n

Speaking to Radio Islam International<\/a>, Mohale highlighted the relentless pressure faced by nurses, saying, \u201cChallenges include workloads, stress, burnout, and violence \u2014 both verbal and physical \u2014 from patients and community members.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Department has expressed deep concern over recent attacks on healthcare workers. \u201cThere was an incident in Limpopo where nurses were not only attacked but also sexually assaulted. Similar cases have occurred in the North West and other provinces,\u201d said Mohale.<\/p>\n

These incidents expose the growing threat to healthcare workers in spaces that are supposed to be safe for both staff and patients. \u201cNurses remain victims of crime in facilities meant to protect them,\u201d he stressed.<\/p>\n

In response, the Department is calling for a united approach: \u201cWe say these issues must come to an end. They can only end if communities work with government and law enforcement. We know these criminal elements at the community level,\u201d Mohale added.<\/p>\n

Acknowledging the severe understaffing at public health facilities, the Department recently committed to recruiting an additional 200 nurses. \u201cWe are working very hard to address the burnout and long queues. People arrive at clinics as early as 4 a.m. because there simply aren\u2019t enough nurses,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The 2025 launch of the State of the World\u2019s Nursing Report<\/em> by the International Council of Nurses comes at a crucial time, as the government vows to improve conditions for healthcare workers.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe aim is to create a working environment where nurses are motivated, protected and can provide the critical care needed,\u201d concluded Mohale.<\/p>\n

As the country honours its nurses, the call is clear: Protect those who care for us.<\/p>\n

Listen<\/strong> to the full interview on Your World Today with Mufti Yusuf Moosagie and Foster Mohale here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Neelam Rahim | neelam@radioislam.co.za 3-minute read 13 May 2025 | 08:18 CAT As South Africa joins the world in commemorating International Nurses Day, the spotlight has again been cast on the critical \u2014 yet often dangerous \u2014 role nurses play in the country\u2019s strained public healthcare system. The Department of Health has sounded the alarm […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":29,"featured_media":97658,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[28,4995],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-97657","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latest-news","category-south-africa"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/vaccination.jpg?fit=270%2C178&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pc0QIf-pp7","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-20 19:27:04","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97657","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/29"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=97657"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97657\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/97658"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=97657"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=97657"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=97657"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}