Nurses converge every year on 12 May to reflect on the valuable contributions that they have made to society. IND also seeks to honour the dedication and tireless efforts that nurses bring to the health care community, being the main drivers for service delivery of healthcare at all levels. "We celebrate this year's International Nurses Day under the theme 'Closing the Gap: From evidence to action'. This theme is very much spot on as we now need to act against all global health challenges.

"The National Health Insurance (NHI) which is currently being piloted in 10 districts across the country is but one example of this required action, says nurse stalwart and Denosa president Dorothy Matebeni. "We are wary of the persisting challenges that include gross-staff shortages, increasing workload and lack of resources which are making it difficult for nurses to execute their duties. Hence we find it necessary for us - Denosa, Department of Health and all other stakeholders to work together in implementing all those strategies that aim to improve our health system.

As DENOSA, we continue to pursue one of our founding principles- that of unifying nurses and ensuring that their voice is heard," says Matebeni, Denosa acknowledges the increased burden of chronic diseases such as diabetes, TB, cancer and HIV and AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa.

"We recognise the need to equip and empower our nurses with relevant information and skills. We achieve this through the TB and HIV/AIDS training programmes, Non-Communicable Disease project and the Denosa Professional Institute (DPI) that provides education, training and professional development to nurses," says Matebeni. "DPI mainly focuses towards transforming nursing education, leadership development and research productivity among nurses in South Africa. DPI also aims to maintain ethical and professional conduct in nursing and provide quality care to society through its courses and programmes," she concludes.