– nursing body begs regional heads in face of heavy migration of practitioners

THE heavy migration of nurses from the Caribbean to developed countries has caught the attention of the Regional Nursing Body (RNB).

It has also come to the attention of Public Health Minister Volda Lawrence, who lobbies for Regional Heads of Government to play a more critical role in bringing this trend to an end.
Delivering the feature address at the opening ceremony of the RNB 45th Annual General Meeting (AGM) last Tuesday, Minister Lawrence addressed the issue.

In her remarks, she tasked the RNB with calling upon Heads of Government “to put a stop to the pilfering of the Region’s nurses by the developed countries,” as it not only hemorrhages the Region, but contributes to detrimental effects on its health system.
It was a sentiment shared by RNB Chair and Grenada’s Chief Nursing Officer (CNO), Nester Edwards who warned that the nursing sector is on the brink of a crisis brought about by heavy migration from the Region.

A release from the CARICOM Secretariat quotes Edwards as saying: “There can be no health without a workforce, no workforce without nurses and midwives.”

Attending the August 7 to 9 meet, which was held here at the CARICOM Secretariat, were representatives from the Caribbean Regional Midwives Association (CRMA); the University of the West Indies School of Nursing (UWISON); the Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO); and Chief Nursing Officers of CARICOM.

During her address, Minister Lawrence also spoke of the need for the Region to strive to meet the 2030 deadline for meeting Sustainable Development Goals regarding the health of Caribbean citizens.

“As 2030 approaches,” she said, “we realise how critical and intense our efforts must be, for we cannot achieve this objective of our citizens being the healthiest in the Caribbean and the Americas if we do not have at our disposal a core of highly qualified and professional dedicated health workers focused on promoting healthcare and services of the highest quality to our respective peoples in whichever community they may be located.”

A COMPREHENSIVE STRATEGY
That said, she also pressed for the development of a comprehensive Human Resource Strategy to boost the present workforce, and improve nursing education to meet current trends and best practices.

Here in Guyana, she told the gathering, the Public Health Ministry is working to address the gaps and inconsistencies between theory and practice regarding clinical education within the nursing sector.

Some of its strategies, she said, will work to restructure the nursing curriculum; reformulate the Nurses and Midwives Bill; and build capacity by facilitating access to local and international training programmes.

Speaking to the gathering’s collective role, Minister Lawrence said:
“Guyana is proud to be hosting the AGM, and it was envisioned that the collective wealth of experience and expertise, together with the commitment of this august body, would shape the way forward for the nursing sector over the next year across the Region.”

The RBN confab also saw its Education and Practice sub-committees agreeing on a Motion to allow candidates for the Regional Examination for Nurse Registration (RENR) examination to have four chances within five years at writing it.

However, these benefits are to be conditional, as they come along with remedial instruction being provided after the first failure, and that agreed-upon change must be submitted to CARICOM Ministers of Health for endorsement.

Nonetheless, it was noted that in the last year, there has been an overall increase in the number of persons passing the exam at the first sitting, as well as those re-sitting the examination.

To reflect the decision that was taken regarding the writing of the exams, an amendment will also be made to the Administrative Manual.

At the meeting it was also agreed that there should be a review of the RENR regional examination following recommendations coming out of the Nursing Council of Jamaica.
At the same time, the Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) is collaborating with the RNB to standardise the final clinical assessment tool for Third and Fourth-Year nursing students.

FOR EASE-OF-MOVEMENT
Since 2006, CXC has been managing the RENR which allows for the improvement of nursing education as well as reciprocity and ease-of-movement for Registered Nurses among the countries of the region.

On the matter of the Assistive Nursing Personnel, ratification of the definition, regulation and scope of practice was also conducted, which CARICOM Ministers of Health will now use as a guide to address the challenges faced.

According to the release: “This has become necessary, given the proliferation of training institutions or entities engaged in training and placement of this category of health workers.”

Meanwhile, an update on the development of the Five-Year Strategic Plan (2018-2023) based on the strategic priorities of nursing and midwifery; education; practice and leadership was provided.

It was relayed that the Strategic Plan is to be finalised and presented to the Council for Human and Social Development (COHSOD).

“The Strategic Plan seeks to provide solutions to current challenges related to nursing and midwifery in the region, starting from the macro level and continuing down to concrete, targeted objectives and activities.

“It will assist stakeholders in achieving these objectives by way of key performance indicators spread out over a five-year timeline, and will simultaneously encourage accountability in gathering, measuring and reporting data associated with these indicators. Furthermore, it will serve as a technical guide for managers, professionals, policymakers and other leaders in the Region,” the document outlined.