THE Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) in collaboration with the Ministry of Health (MoH) honoured nurses from the Neonatal Intensive Care (NIC) nursing programme on Friday.According to a release from the GPHC, the training programme which is of one year’s duration; is done in partnership with the Nationwide Children’s Hospital from Ohio, USA and Guyana Help the Kids Foundation (GHTK).
Moreover, at the event, Minister of Health, Dr. Bheri Ramsaran recognised the achievement of the nurses for being selected to be part of such a programme and advised them to uphold good standards in the health sector.

“I want to urge you to continue a good approach in nursing, not only the technical services but the compassionate aspect and I also want you to spread this in your sisterhood because we are still experiencing some instances of ineptitude and harshness, unfortunately,” he said.
That apart, Minister Ramsaran encouraged the nurses to show compassion to patients, politeness to relatives and be tolerant to criticism, particularly because it would be needed in their field.
He also highlighted the important roles of overseas-based partners in making this programme and other training programmes possible, noting that the partners are aiding Guyana to build its human resources.
In closing, the minister acknowledged the hard work which the GPHC has been doing to ensure Guyanese are afforded excellent health services and for the training it is providing to employees.
Meanwhile, Director of Medical Education, GPHC, Dr. Madan Rambaran said the programme has been a progressive development in the area of Neonatal Intensive Care, explaining that “this is one of the initiatives which will aid with efforts to achieve Millennium Development Goal 4: reduction of child mortality.”
He disclosed that the programme is not restricted to nurses from the GPHC, but is open to other hospitals as well.
Head of the Paediatric Department, GPHC, Dr. Clive Bowman, stated that “before the programme started the nurses were passive followers, and the doctors made all decisions while they followed.”
However, he noted that since the graduation of the first batch, he has seen a massive transformation and the nurses are now an integral part of decision-making.
“Nurses are bolder, they are able to make decisions, they are able to recognise when something is not done right and use their initiative to take action to correct a situation even before the doctors get there,” said Bowman
He said as a result of the overall training initiatives the hospital has embarked on for doctors and nurses at the Paediatrics Department, there has been a significant reduction in child mortality.
The NIC nursing training programme which commenced in 2012 has since trained two batches of nurses, a total of 27.
The third batch which includes 10 nurses recently commenced; it includes five persons from the GPHC, three from the West Demerara Regional Hospital, one from the Linden Hospital Complex and one from the Suddie Hospital.