Nurses form the backbone if the healthcare industry and a shortage of nurses means that there are many open nursing jobs in CT. throughout history, nurses have played a vital role in the wellbeing of nations worldwide and without the assistance of nurses, doctors and specialists wouldn’t be able to give patients the care they deserve.

All over the world there is a shortage of skilled medical professionals, and South Africa is no different. Nurses will always be demand; and a registered nurse is likely to always have a have a job unless she herself chooses not to work. This makes nursing a wise career choice, particularly in today’s shady job market and economic instability.

South Africa’s largest private group of hospitals, Netcare, has invested close to R95 million to train nurses and other healthcare personnel as a result of the shortage of nurses in the industry. The Netcare Education Division has campuses in 5 major centres: Pretoria, Johannesburg, Cape Town, Port Elizabeth and Durban.

Nurses today have the opportunity to specialise and further their training and skills and nurses who are highly qualified will be paid accordingly. They can also develop their careers into more educational or management roles. Nurses who provide excellent service can also be rewarded with other incentives and benefits.

It takes four years of training to become a registered nurse, but three other training levels are available in South Africa:

• A one year first level course for Nursing Assistants or Enrolled Nursing Auxiliary staff. These trained nurses are responsible for general duties such as bathing patients, bedside care, feeding patients and other activities of daily living. They also assist doctors and senior nurses with their duties.
• The two year course, the second nursing level, produces Enrolled Nurses or Staff Nurses. Under the supervision of a registered nurse, enrolled nurses can work under any department, including the Intensive Care Unit (ICU).
• The third level is the four-year courses that gives graduates the status of Sister or Professional Nurse. These nurses are qualified to be Registered Nurses and have specialised skills in community health, as midwives and in general nursing. Registered Nurses can opt to specialise in disciplines such as theatre, intensive care, trauma, paediatrics or orthopaedics.

With not enough of these graduates, there is great demand for nurse to fill nursing jobs in CT and around South Africa. To find a nursing job, you can simply look online at positions listed on job websites or look in the local newspaper. You can also contact hospitals and clinic directly to see if they are in need of additional staff.

Some recent job listings include:

• A registered nursing assistant (this would be a job for a graduate of the one-year, first level nursing course).
• An operations manager for a Nursing Department. This is a more administrative role in which nursing training is not a requirement, but may be advantageous.
• A nursing educator. This position would be open to an enrolled or registered nurse who has studied for at least two years at nursing school at second level position.
• An occupational health nursing practitioner
• A Director of nursing for a hospital. This candidate must have a Master’s Degree in General Nursing.
• A registered nursing sister (third year level)
• A nursing auxiliary for an ICU department
• A clinical nursing practitioner with experience in child care

These are just a few of the many jobs that are available to trained nurses. As you can see, jobs are available for all levels of study and are not limited to nursing itself, but include other disciplines such as management and education. Remember, nursing jobs are not limited to females and the number of registered mal nurses is growing slowly.

Nursing is not an easy profession and requires special empathy and care. The job can be demanding and unpredictable, but it can also be very rewarding to know that you have made a difference in bettering someone’s life.