PROVIDING quality health care is always a challenge, especially in developing

countries where human, financial and technological resources are scarce, but it has been seen that even with limited resources quality health care could be provided.
The process of providing care in developing countries is often poor and varies widely. A large body of evidence from industrial countries consistently shows variations in process, and these findings have transformed how quality of care is perceived (McGlynn and others, 2003).
A study in Jamaica, which used a cross-sectional analysis of government-run primary care clinics, showed that better process alone was linked to significantly greater birth weight (Peabody, Gertler, and Liebowitz, 1998). A study in Indonesia attributed 60 percent of all perinatal deaths to poor process and only 37 percent to economic constraints (Supratikto and others, 2002).
Cuba is one of the shining examples of where a poor country provides high-quality health care free of cost to its citizens and even helps to train medical personnel from other developing countries.
In addition, it has medical brigades dispatched to all parts of the developing world giving vital support to the health care systems in those countries. Our country has benefited tremendously from Cuba in this regard.
However, an integral and vital component of any health care system is adequate and high quality nursing care. No health care system is worth its salt if it does not have an efficient and effective nursing service.
Of course, nursing is one of those noble and humanitarian professions that give people all of what they need, in return for their skills and expertise, but how about a profession whereby one has to love and care for an absolute stranger, who is in pain and agony. And that is why sometimes it is difficult to get the right people into the nursing profession.
In our case, the government through the Ministry of Health has been working tirelessly and persistently to continuously upgrade and improve the quality of nursing in our health care system through continuous training programmes.
While, undoubtedly, there is room for much more improvement, it is undeniable that our quality of nursing skills has considerably improved. Sometimes, the public is too harsh on nurses and fail to understand and appreciate the serious challenges and tremendous sacrifices our nurses have to endure.
In this regard, the disclosure that a new batch of 103 nurses will begin their three-year training course soon at the Georgetown Nursing School, is certainly good news and this will provide a significant boost to our public health care system. And those who have enrolled on this training course should be commended for taking up such considerable challenge. It shows that despite the negative picture being painted by some among us, we still have patriotic Guyanese who are committed to developing and improving our country.
One of the problems that has been affecting our nursing profession is that there has always been a shortage of male nurses.
However, Acting Chief Nursing Officer, Debra Henry, hopes that could change soon and more males would become part of the “wonderful profession.”
While hopes are good, tangible efforts will be needed to realise those hopes and, in this regard, the reasons males are shying away from the profession should be unearthed with the intention of providing a solution.