Reflecting on 34 years nursing in Papua New Guinea.

• Jurisdiction: Australia
• Author: Kep, Julie Kamblijambi
• Date: 01 June 2012

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Nursing is a challenging job where new life and death, illness and wellness all feature as part of our professional and personal experience.

In my 34 years of nursing in Papua New Guinea (PNG), clinical practice has changed significantly with financial constraints as well as enhanced role advancement informed by higher degree education in turn impacting on quality of care.

In contemporary PNG, nursing practice and patient care is currently quite different to how it was practised in the 1970-1980s. Under the colonial rule (1960-1980) hospitals were well equipped; patients slept on clean beds and were given full nursing care. Basic nursing care such as observations, sponging of iii patients, a bed change every second day was part of the daily or weekly routine. Currently most of the basic routine cares have deteriorated over recent years due to an increase in population and nursing and midwifery staff shortages.

According to WHO (2010) Papua New Guinea has a total of 2,841 nurses and midwives as of 2008. The midwife to patient ratio is one per 1,000 live births (Dawson et al 2011) compared to one to five in developed countries. In PNG, basic care is only partially given by nurses with relatives now depended on to provide supplementary care. Services to the rural population have also...