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The nurses will help beef up health service delivery in all 13 prisons found in Matabeleland region, which includes Bulawayo, Matabeleland North and Matabeleland South.
Courses completed by the nurses included roles of the ZPS, prison administration, public relations, security, drill, weapon training and civic  education.

Of the 37 nurses that were inducted, 28 are women and nine are men.
Speaking during the occasion on Friday, the officer commanding ZPS Matabeleland region, Senior Assistant Commissioner Crayton Seulah, said   the courses would make the nurses appreciate the organisation’s mission, vision, core values and culture.
“For this organisation to provide quality service, it is necessary for members who would not have passed through Ntabazinduna Training School, to have at least an induction course.

“I am confident that the training course has enriched your key result area in the health delivery system as you will be dealing with inmates,” said Snr Asst Comm Seulah.
He urged the nurses to maintain a high standard of discipline in performing their duties.

Speaking at the same occasion, Senior Prison Officer Sakhile Dingane, one of the graduates who recently attained the rank of principal prison officer, said the courses opened their minds.

“We are also proud as nurses that we now know the value of our national flag, coat of arms and the national anthem. We promise to be true prison officers who will be able to protect society through the incarceration and rehabilitation of offenders for their successful re-integration into the society,” said Snr Prison Officer Dingane.

The acting public relations officer for ZPS Matabeleland region, Senior Prison Officer Livingston Mashange, said ZPS valued the health of inmates.
“We now value human rights and we trained the nurses so that they can understand our inmates. All of them will be deployed to our prisons in Matabeleland and they

will improve our health institutions,” said Senior Prison Officer Mashange.

He said his organisation would continue to improve though some people maintained that ZPS had a record of poor health facilities.
“These nurses were unemployed and we saw it fit to train them in services so as to improve the health of our inmates,” said Senior Prison Officer Mashange.