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The Western Cape Department of Health (WCDoH), in its Provincial Nursing Strategy of 2009, identified a shortage of nurses as a critical factor in its implementation. However, the increased student enrolment in the Western Cape continued without any research-based evidence about the deployment of nurses for service delivery. This article describes the production and deployment of professional nurses to Western Cape public health facilities for the period 2005 to 2010. A quantitative approach using an exploratory descriptive design was used during three research phases. The findings indicated that professional nurses who graduate with the four-year degree/diploma play an insignificant role in meeting the need for professional nurses in the Western Cape. From the findings, strategic direction is provided and described in order to advise policy makers about staffing professional nurses at the Western Cape public health facilities.

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