Australia lifts Zimbabwe nurses recruitment ban

Australia lifts Zimbabwe nurses recruitment ban

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By Staff Reporter

THE Australian Nursing and Midwifery Council (ANMC) has lifted a ban on the recruitment of Zimbabwean nurses after concluding an investigation into claims that some nurses had forged their papers.

In a statement posted on its website, the ANMC said: "Applications will only be assessed on the condition that Certificates of Good Standing from the Nursing Council of Zimbabwe can be confirmed as authentic."

The ANMC took the dramatic step of suspending all nurse recruitments from Zimbabwe in November last year after a nurse was found with forged papers and suspended from direct care.

Two Zimbabwean nurses were later suspended in South Australia, with Health Minister John Hill insisting that it was not their conduct which was under investigation, but their Certificates of Good Standing which appeared to have been forged.

Australian authorities subsequently carried out checks on 88 nurses and midwives from Zimbabwe registered in South Australia.

The findings of the investigation have not been published.

The ANMC also announced a new requirement for Zimbabwean nurses who must complete a "competency based assessment or bridging program and provide evidence of English language proficiency" prior to being found suitable for migration.

At the height of the stand-off, the Zimbabwe Nurses Association (ZNA) -- the trade union body for the country's health professionals -- refused to step into the row. Doreen Choruma, a spokesman for the ZNA, however accused the Australians of spreading "propaganda" about Zimbabwean nurses.

Thousands of health professionals have been leaving Zimbabwe in droves, leaving a decaying health delivery system behind. But many nurses have been critical of the Nursing Council of Zimbabwe which they accuse of delaying issuing Certificates of Good Standing -- a prerequisite for nurses in Commonwealth countries to have before they are allowed to practise.

Alongside the United Kingdom, Canada and the United States, Australia tops the list of destinations for Zimbabwean professionals, political refugees and economic migrants driven away by a failing economy at home.
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