A patient is attended to by a nurse in the emergency wing October 24, 2011. Image by: NOOR KHAMIS / REUTERS
They believe that more needs to be done to improve the standard of training of nurses and the standard of care.
South Africa has an average of one nurse for every 428 patients. Medical experts, unions and the government agree that that is thousands too few.
That figure might be even worse because many of the 118262 registered nurses either do not work or work overseas.
The warnings were sounded on International Nurses' Day at a ceremony to rename the South African Nursing Council building in honour of South Africa's first black nurse, Cecilia Makiwane.
Director-general of health Precious Matsoso said: "Naming the building after Cecilia Makiwane means we are entrenching her principles of discipline."
Health Department spokesman Fidel Hadebe said the shortage of nurses was due to the closure of more than 100 nursing colleges 15 years ago, the growing burden of disease and emigration.
Democratic Union of Nursing spokesman Asanda Fongqo said the shortages have had adverse effects on healthcare.
"Though the government is addressing staff shortages, it must also improve working conditions."
The shortage has affected both public and private healthcare.
Healthcare experts are also concerned about the quality of nursing.
But Dr Karl le Roux, chairman of the Rural Doctors' Association, said shortages could not continue to be used as an excuse. "We can improve and work better with what we have," he said.
"Nurses need to re-examine their roles as caring professionals.
"Many people think nurses don't care and that is damaging the profession," Le Roux said.
He said that, though he had worked with some remarkably dedicated and proficient nurses over the years, the growing perception was that the quality of nursing had declined.
"In some cases, nurses are burned out from heavy workloads and from a system that is broken.
"In other cases there is a culture of disdain."
Zee Brickles, Netcare's nursing services general manager, said not all nurses practised the profession with the dignity they had promised.
"There are many who are dedicated but there is still a need to rediscover the nursing ethos."
He said people looking for a stable job were attracted to nursing without necessarily having a vocation for it.
"We must recruit properly. We should not look only at school results but at whether candidates have a calling for nursing."
Nurse of 41 years Daleen du Plessis said nursing was a vocation and not just a job.
"I always knew I wanted to be a nurse. Nursing is about caring for the sick. Unfortunately, some now see it simply as a job."
Brickles and Le Roux called for better management of nurses. Le Roux said the discipline of years ago had declined.
"We need a combination of support, encouragement and accountability," he said.
Brickles said nurses needed mentoring. "Something has gone terribly wrong."
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