Nurse: ‘We aren’t getting the pay we deserve’

Monica Achien Bol, a nurse at Pacong Primary Healthcare Centre in Lakes State, speaking to Radio Tamazuj on Tuesday, May 16, 2023.

Nurses and midwives in Lakes State have said they are overworked and underpaid. The nurses and midwives shared these views as they joined the rest of the world to commemorate International Midwives and Nurse’s Day in Rumbek town under the theme, “Our Nurses, Our Future”.

Nurses and midwives in Lakes State have said they are overworked and underpaid. The nurses and midwives shared these views as they joined the rest of the world to commemorate International Midwives and Nurse’s Day in Rumbek town under the theme, “Our Nurses, Our Future”.

According to the International Council of Nurses (ICN), ‘our nurses, our future’ is a global campaign which aims to address global health challenges and achieve better global health for all.

Last week, the International Midwives and Nurse’s Day event in Rumbek town of Lakes State was attended by the government, health officials, and health partners. This year’s focus has been to address issues of less pay for nurses and other healthcare professionals in Lakes State.

Monica Achien Bol is 50 years old and is in charge of the maternity ward at Pacong Primary Healthcare Center. He has described the services provided by nurses and midwives as ‘humanitarian work’.

“I have been working as a nurse since 1992. I do help people who are sick and women on delivery in the hospital in Lakes State if there is a woman who was to deliver. I will take care of her in the maternity ward until she delivers peacefully in the hospital,” she told Radio Tamazuj.

She said the condition of her work is the same as that of all other nurses and midwives across South Sudan.

“It is not me alone who is suffering. It is all of us, even medical cadres in South Sudan. We are all suffering,” she said.

“Our work is a voluntary work. We work hard, and we get less pay at the end of the month, and you know the salary of South Sudan is all the same. No one gets more than the other in the government,” she said.

She said the salary which the government of South Sudan gives is less for the working condition of nurses and midwives across the country.

“I am a senior nurse in grade (7), and I receive per month 7,500 SSP, and there is no other assistance that comes to us from the other sources,” she said.

She said International Nurses and Midwifery Day is commemorated to reflect the hard work of helping people who are suffering across the world, and it’s also commemorated to reflect our suffering and the challenges facing us.

“Without nurses or midwives, doctors and their assistance cannot work, and no hospital can work,” she said.

She explained that she completed her nursing certificate at Wau Health Science Institute in 1988, and now “I am working in a rural area primary healthcare centre in Pacong in Rumbek East County.”

“I am helping my people from dangerous diseases like hypertension, hepatitis B, pregnancy care and mother’s delivery and advising those attending antenatal care to eat healthy foods so that the child can be delivered healthy,” she said.

She said about 20-30 pregnant mothers attend antenatal care per day and more mothers deliver every month in Pacong primary healthcare centre.