Nurses drown in sea of mental patients

Namibia observes Mental Health Month amid a cocktail of dilapidated healthcare facilities, dire shortage of mental health personnel and beds – which sees patients with different afflictions thrown in one room - as well as scarcity of sedation and other critical medication.Currently, one psychiatric nurse is assigned to more than 15 patients in some institutions, while security officials only guard buildings, leaving staff who deal with psychotic patients to their own mercy.In other parts of the country, the ratio is one nurse to 220 people, despite the international standard being one mental health nurse to four mental health patients during a normal day shift.This is according to Winnie Moongo, final-year nursing student and Popular Democratic Movement (PDM) member of parliament, who told the National Assembly that there have been incidents where nurses administering medication were strangled or beaten by patients.Nurse shortage“Between the hours of 19:00 and 20:00, nurses have to administer medication in the dark as there are no functioning lights. Most times, nurses have to use their mobile phones for light."This is a dangerous state of affairs given that at any point a patient may begin to hallucinate and cause harm to those who are distributing medicine or administering medication intravenously,” the party’s shadow health minister said.Moongo said the Windhoek Central Hospital&#039;s mental health centre employs only about five medical officers, three consultants and about five psychologists, despite the influx of patients.“The mental health psychiatric nurse shortage has overwhelmed hospitals across our country. In fact, most registered psychologists are employed in the private health sector. Psychologists and other healthcare providers set up multidisciplinary clinics to provide mental health services. However, these services are only limited to those who can afford them,” she said.Sad state of affairs“In the wards, beds are without mattresses and often are recycled from the Windhoek Central Hospital, which means they are not meant for patients who are mentally challenged and therefore not fit for use.“I say this because in the forensics department, for instance, there are concrete beds attached to the room walls with special mattresses that are fit for use and do not endanger the lives of those patients. Additionally, there are only 24 beds in Ward A and 24 beds in Ward B. In total, not more than 48 beds.”She added that in Ward 16 at Oshakati State Hospital, which caters for three northern regions, patients often end up sharing rooms with psychotic patients, while Windhoek Central Hospital’s mental health centre also finds itself in this predicament.“This is a sad state of affairs and must be addressed with a sense of urgency.”Moongo further highlighted a shortage of medication, while includes medicine meant for sedation and Biperiden, “which is used to treat Parkinson’s disease or to reduce or suppress side-effects from psychotropic medication”.Questions sent to the health ministry on the issue went unaswered.jemima@namibiansun.com

Nurses drown in sea of mental patients

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Namibian Sun 2026-02-04

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Nurses drown in sea of mental patients

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Namibian Sun 2026-02-04

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