The Regional Secretary for Health challenged newly graduated nurses to opt for a career focused on primary health care.
 
"While health outcomes and gains are not immediate, this is where the essence of strategic and sustainable change lies. It is in primary health care that we intend to invest," said the government official.
 
Speaking at the delivery of diplomas to students of the Health School, recently graduated in nursing, Rui Luís stated that "it is in this area that nurses should present themselves with a strong degree of autonomy in decision making, which allows them a greater visibility for the health gains they can provide to the population. "
 
Asked by journalists, about the Region's capacity to absorb more nurses, Rui Luís assumed that there is a shortage of these professionals and recalled the commitment assumed with the Nursing Association provide the health units with much need nurses within 4 to 5 years.
 
On the other hand, he revealed that "this year we have opened vacancies at the Divino Espírito Santo Hospital and we are also preparing an application for São Miguel Island Health Unit."
 
Although the Regional Health Service is currently the main employer of human resources from the Azores Health School, the government official stressed that there are a number of Institutions providing services to the community, such as Private Social Solidarity Institutions, which are in need of more nurses.
 
On the sidelines of the ceremony, the Secretary for Health commented on the Nurses' Association to distinguish the career of specialist nurses.
 
"We are monitoring the process, we are assessing the resources we have under these conditions, but this is a situation that essentially depends on the career and this is defined at national level," said the government official.
 
On the day when the Health School delivered in Angra do Heroísmo the graduation diploma to 22 nurses, the Regional Secretary also emphasised that investment in postgraduate training in continuing, palliative and mental health care may be a window of opportunity for this institution.
 
In this regard, the Regional Secretariat for Health, in partnership with the University of the Azores, is working in the best way possible to offer a post-specialisation course in Maternal and Midwifery Nursing, an area that currently faces shortages.