MBABANE: The Eswatini Nurses Council has been accused of frustrating new graduates by delaying the Entry To Practice(ETP) exam.
A research conducted by this Swaziland News uncovered that,in other countries,the exam is not written once a year and graduates are at liberty to write shortly after their graduation.
“We have a problem here as newly graduated nurses, we are made to wait for a year before writing the Entry To Practice(ETP) exam and this delay is a frustration for us when applying for jobs.Furthermore, we are made to wait for two(2) years before applying for overseas jobs”, said one of the health graduates.
Reached for comments, Mayibongwe Masangwane,the Secretary General of the Swaziland Democratic Nurses Union(SWADNU) confirmed that new graduates are made to wait for a year before writing the Entry to Practice(ETP) exam.
“It’s true that, the exam is written once a year but the scarcity of jobs cannot be attributed to the Nursing Council, it’s the delay by Government to employ nurses.This exam is important because it is meant to assess the graduate if he/she is ready to work without making mistakes that might cost lives. The Nursing Council is the regulator and we normally sit down and engage if there are challenges that need to be addressed. The exam is written once a year because the Nursing Council normally wait for all Colleges to conclude their graduation and present certificates. As a result,those who graduated last year, will write the exam this year and those who will graduate this year, will write next year. But we normally encourage the Nursing Council to announce early so that all the new graduates could write the exam once”,said the Nurses Union Secretary General.
Responding to this Swaziland News on Thursday morning, Nkosinathi Nkwanyana, the Registrar of the Eswatini Nursing Council said “it’s not true that,the exam is written” once a year.
“Maybe others are failing to understand the schedule, the exam might be written in December to accommodate new graduates and then, the other exam will be written the following year but, within the period of twelve(12) months, it’s within a year. So exams are written twice not once a year”, said the Registrar of the Nursing Council.
Eswatini Nursing Council accused of frustrating graduates who want to secure jobs by delaying Entry to Practice Exam(ETP),forces them to wait for two years before applying for overseas employment.