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Joseph Madzimure

Senior Reporter

A voluntary organisation, the Zimbabwe Young Nurses Association (ZYNA) has urged their members across the country not to join the ongoing strike, saying they should concentrate on saving lives as required by the Hippocratic oath.

More than 3 000 registered general nurses and over 300 nurse aides have joined the association to end staff shortages in public hospitals and clinics.

Most of the members have already been engaged by the Public Service Commission.

The association’s founding president Miss Cynthia Shatei-Chisiri said they were committed to serving the nation under any difficult conditions.

The call comes after some nurses at Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals aligned to a splinter group, Zimbabwe Nurses Association, threatened to down tools citing poor remuneration at the expense of human life.

However, according to the Apex Council meeting held yesterday, health care workers are demanding that salaries revert back to October 1, 2018, digits that were quoted in United States dollars.

The healthcare workers, however, threatened to withdraw their services, if their salaries are not pegged in US dollars.

Meanwhile, the Government yesterday awarded civil servants and Government pensioners an immediate 50 percent pay rise along with flat non-taxable US dollar-denominated Covid-19 allowances of US$75 a month for each civil servant, regardless of grade, and US$30 a month for Government pensioners for the next three months.

“We are calling our members not to join the strike, but to direct their efforts towards serving the people. We understand the current economic situation in the country, and the effects of the global Covid-19  pandemic but that should not hinder our members from delivering their duties.”

Miss Shatei-Chisiri appealed to all unemployed qualified registered general nurses to come on board and join their association to fill the gaps in all health institutions while waiting to secure employment.

“As the Zimbabwe Young Nurses Association, we are calling upon all unemployed qualified and registered general nurses from all corners of the nation to map a forward regarding the ongoing strike that has affected the country. We value human life and we are inspired by the spirit of the legendary pioneer of modern nursing Florence Nightingale towards serving lives.”