Skills Retention Strategies for Professional Nurses.

It is a reality that public services that are entrenched in the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa Act No. 108 of 1996 will always be in the public domain regardless of how efficiently they are delivered. Primary health care is particularly important among lower income groups whose numbers can put pressure on the capacity of local government to render an effective and efficient service. The literature shows that a high staff turnover could impact negatively on service delivery. It is thus important that municipalities do everything in their power to retain the services of professional nurses to ensure effective and efficient service delivery in basic health care. From the empirical study it can be concluded that the municipality is not able to retain the services of professional nurses due to its limited financial capacity. In this regard the researcher wishes to recommend that the municipality enter into negotiations with the provincial government's department of health to develop, jointly, a package for professional nurses that will address all their current challenges.