He was speaking at The Avenues Clinic School of Nursing’s 23rd graduation ceremony at the Celebration Centre in Harare on Friday.
Thirty-eight nurses drawn from central, district, private and mission hospitals across the country graduated with diplomas in Intensive and Coronary Care Nursing and Operating Theatre Nursing. Nineteen graduated in intensive care and 19 in operating theatre nursing.
“Nurses and midwives are the backbone of healthcare delivery. Their contribution spans the entire continuum of care, from health promotion and disease prevention to treatment, rehabilitation and palliative care. We must therefore invest deliberately in their training, professional development and specialisation,” Mombeshora said.
He said the Health Workforce Strategy provides the framework for building the human resource capacity needed to meet the country’s health ambitions, with particular attention to specialist skills.
“Our Health Workforce Strategy provides the framework for building the human resource capacity necessary to achieve these ambitions. We must also pay particular attention to specialist competencies in areas such as critical care, oncology, emergency medicine, neonatal care and other emerging fields,” he said.
Mombeshora said Government’s vision for nursing education goes beyond increasing numbers and focuses on producing practitioners who uphold high standards of competence, ethics and patient-centred care.
“We must develop a competent, ethical, adaptable and patient-centred workforce, equipped to respond to the changing health needs of our population,” he said.
“This requires us to expand training opportunities, strengthen training institutions, embrace innovation and ensure that our graduates possess the skills required by a modern health system.”