–Health Minister anticipates greater number of enrolments next year
–plans to expand initiative to accept interested Caribbean persons

IN an effort to enhance nursing education in Guyana and make it accessible to everyone across the length and breadth of the nation, the Ministry of Health (MoH) through the Health Sciences Education (HSE) Department on Monday officially launched the hybrid professional nursing training programme.

This programme is the result of a collaboration between Guyana’s Ministry of Health- Health Sciences Education Department- and the Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organisation (PAHO/WHO).

Minister of Health Dr. Frank Anthony during his address at the launch, said that the government is keen on enhancing the health infrastructure, but is also committed to developing and raising the quality of the services provided at each level.

He related: “This is a very innovative approach that we are taking… we are expanding our health sector, we’re doing quite a lot of things in terms of building out the infrastructure in the country,” adding that because there are only three public nursing schools, which can hold roughly 250 students, this is not enough to close the gaps in the health sector.

Dr. Anthon said too that when the Health Ministry launched the application portal, more than 1,712 people responded, thereby exceeding their expectations.

However, the ministry was able to accept only 1,160 applicants because 552 of them did not match the requirements.

According to Dr. Anthony: “I’m extremely pleased that once we started this process and we put out a call for applications, we actually got 1,712 applicants.”

However, to not exclude anyone from this opportunity, the minister said that those who did not meet the criteria will be trained by the ministry, so that they would be in a position to qualify for next year’s hybrid nursing programme.

Notwithstanding this, Dr. Anthony said although the cutoff point was 1,000 applicants, the ministry went above and beyond to accept all 1,160 students, who met the criteria.

“We decided that we’re bringing everybody on board, so we’re not leaving anyone who met the eligibility criteria out,” Dr. Anthony said.

This is particularly important because one constant issue plaguing the health sector, not only in Guyana but in the Caribbean, is that of migration of nurses to developed countries.

While Dr. Anthony said that one cannot stop health personnel from migrating, countries such as Guyana could work on providing more opportunities for those who want to be trained in the health sector.

Moreover, the minister revealed that persons outside of Guyana have expressed an interest in joining the programme and while the ministry welcomes it, he remarked: “We want to first make sure that we can get this up and running properly.”

Additionally, he said that because the Health Ministry recognises the significance of clinical training, simulation centres will be established along the coast and in the hinterland.

In addition, those nursing students will get a $16,180 monthly stipend to ensure that they have the resources necessary to complete the programme.

At the conclusion of the three-year nursing programme, students will be given employment opportunities by the Health Ministry.

Moreover, the minister said from next year and onwards, they are aiming to increase the acceptance.

EVOLUTION OF NURSING EDUCATION
Meanwhile, the Deputy Director of HSE, Chandroutie Persaud, acknowledged how far Guyana has advanced in granting people the chance to become qualified nurses.

According to her: “The launch of [the] professional nursing training programme hybrid approach signifies the evolution of nursing education to be the type of technological advancement in education delivery.”

She further mentioned that to give a more hands-on approach, the clinical component was reviewed thoroughly.

In addition to this, Dr. Carla Ventura, a professor from the College of Nursing, University of Sao Paulo and Dr. Luis Codina, PAHO/WHO Country Representative, reflected on what it was like working with the Health Ministry to make this possible, and said that they recognise the tremendous work being done by the government to improve the health industry.