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It is commonly said knowledge is power and yes indeed it is.  People who make the most out of the resources that life provides are those who have the refined knowledge of how the things are done. At times, for the want of knowledge, many have landed into problems which they should not have. Indeed, many have forfeited benefits and advantages which should have brimmed their lives had they had this precious jewel.

It is the understanding of this important phenomenon that has always prompted the National Organization of Nurses and Midwives of Malawi (NONM) to seek to empower its members through capacity building workshops. Recently (5^th, 6^th, 12^th and 13^th November, 2020), two have been conducted in Blantyre to educate members on how to handle workplace related disputes and disagreements.

The workshop, which has come as one of the activities under the project, Closing the Gap, Sufficient, Competent and Motivated Nurses and Midwives, was facilitated by an official from the Ministry of Labour, Skills and Innovation and the presidential advisor on Civil Society Organisations, Mrs. Martha Kwataine.

It invited the presence of NONM representatives from the district and branch committees from across the south east and west zones.

Speaking at the workshop, NONM executive director, Regina Soka Mankhamba, said: “This training is important to our branch union leadership as it will equip the participants with knowledge, skills and attitudes on how to deal with workplace labour related disputes. This will help them to understand all the labour laws like labour relations act, employment act, occupation, safety, health and wellbeing act and compensation act. These leaders will also be groomed on how to be an effective trade union leader.”

Kwataine who presented a leadership lecture at the workshop said leadership skills are very important for any sector including to the nurses zeroing in on the idea that leadership skills can improve service delivery.

She said: “You know the role of nurses and midwives just like doctors and other professions is very critical because they are directly responsible for people’s lives; any decision they take has an impact on the life of their clients. So good leadership skills can also lead to optimal service delivery.”

“Allocation of resources, patient care, even management of the resources available, relationships; they have to work as a team; you have different cadres but serving the same person. So if your leadership skills are not enhanced as a nurse as a midwife, it will actually be difficult to navigate the sector well and even to serve the patient and guardian well,” she added.

Kwataine also emphasized on the need for leaders to mentor their juniors instead of being jealousy to them.

She said: “one of the basic skills in leadership is teaching what others call coaching and mentoring. It is important that as people rise up in the ranks in their ladder as nurse professionals, they must also take deliberate effort to build the capacity of the people below them. Oftentimes in the leadership circles people tend to get intimidated with their juniors but I want to believe that all of us are unique in one way or the other.”

“So they must also make deliberate effort to mentor and train upcoming nurse professionals, nurse leaders. Because we all have a shelf life. Nobody is indispensable. We grow old, we die, we move to other districts, we change departments, so if you mentor others service delivery is never distracted,” she added.

Attendees of the workshop said they have learned many useful things.

One of them, Eletina Sankhulani, who is also the nursing officer for Machinga district hospital said: “The capacity building workshop which I have attended has enlighted me on the different acts that govern labour issues. This will help me to use the right procedures whenever there are conflicts at my workplace.”

“Another important thing that I’ve learned in the training is the rights I have as an employee. This knowledge will help me to speak out in a proper way whenever my rights are being violated. Further, this training has given me knowledge which I will share with my colleagues, more specifically union members as we have been following improper channels for dispute resolution,” she added.