Stories from the ground: North West nurse disheartened by persistent medicine shortages
- July 19, 2024
- Health
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I am a professional nurse at Jericho clinic in the North West. I have been working at this clinic since April 2021 after leaving Unit 9 clinic in Ngaka Modiri, also in the North West. I left Unit 9 in March 2021 because of challenges that included consistent shortages of medication like ARVs, TB drugs and psychiatric drugs. Little did I know that the problems I thought I was running away from at Unit 9 would catch up with me at Jericho clinic. My first few months at the clinic were great. I enjoyed working here because I did not experience many challenges in providing good patient care. I was working in the mother and child department where I dealt with childhood vaccinations, antenatal care and postnatal care. With antenatal care, pregnant women are given folic acid. Folic acid is important for the growing foetus. Mothers are given a pack of 30 tablets per monthly visit and there are some women who are given 60 tablets per two months visit. The 60 tablets supply is for women that were past six months in their pregnancy and were not a high risk. Rationing medicine In April this year, the clinic management told us that there is a shortage of supplements because the supplier has not delivered. We began giving all pregnant women just 30 tablets rather than 60 tablets, to ensure that everyone was catered for. From there on a staff meeting was held and the clinic manager requested that we give women who were past six months 15 tablets and ask them to return two days before they got finished so that we can refill the tablets. The reason was still that the supplier had not delivered. In late May we started referring patients to other surrounding clinics in the province because our clinic does not have the supplements at hand. I remember saying to my colleague that, imagine these women arrive at the clinic before us as staff members, they queue outside in the cold from as early as 5 am only for us to check their weight, blood pressure, glucose and check for foetal sounds and movement then we send them home without any medication. This really breaks my heart. Then in June I began working with children. We would experience a delay in childhood vaccinations for a week or two at most, however we would receive the vaccines. Then it became a month’s delay and we used all the stock that we had at hand. We did not have vaccines, vitamin A and the dewormer tablets. For an entire month (June) we turned away mothers and caregivers of these children because there was nothing we could do for them. Till today we are struggling with childhood vaccines and antenatal drugs at Jericho clinic. As a nurse I believe that every department in the clinic is important. But seeing children not receive their vaccinations is worse. We have reached a point where we now write notes in the Right to Care booklets explaining that we do not have stock and they can go to any other clinic. Mothers tell us that when they get to other clinics they get shouted at by nurses and clerks because the stock they have on hand is for the surrounding communities and if they cater for other patients out of their catchment area then it results in a shortage for them, which is understandable. My colleagues in the clinic are complaining that there is a shortage of ARVs, TB drugs and other medication. Nursing has become so difficult because we are restricted in our work. We work with people who cannot afford private healthcare and they depend on the government for medical care. Turning sick people away should never be an option when money is allocated every year. – Frustrated nurse, Brits
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