BNA sings praises of Eunice Gibson
THE legacy of a great woman was toasted recently when the Barbados Nurses’ Association hosted the 24th edition of the Eunice Gibson Memorial Lecture and Awards Ceremony. Not allowing COVID-19 to put a damper on this year’s proceedings, the entire event was held remotely via Zoom, which allowed for attendance of members at home as well as specially-invited visitors from the region, the United States of America and the United Kingdom.
With the lecture titled ‘The History and Evolution of Deployment of Public Health Nursing’, President of the Barbados Nurses’ Association (BNA), C. Joannah Waterman, delivered the welcome remarks and hailed the pandemic as having some good to it as it thrusts the association’s members into the spotlight in a positive sense.
“The conditions that COVID-19 forced on us have created an opportunity to connect to a wider base and improve our ability to meet in a different arrangement as evidenced by this evening’s session. The unprecedented pandemic has thrust into the spotlight and into sharp focus, our nurses who are on the frontline and those continuing ongoing care, and who are all deserving of all the accolades and recognition through a ceremony such as this,” she said.
Going on to speak to a global initiative named ‘Nursing Now’, Waterman said that it was a call to invest in nurses and nursing, and empower the profession towards providing universal health care and achieving sustainable development goals.
“This global campaign ‘Nursing Now’ remonstrates the leadership qualities of our founder, who was also of the belief that nurses are at the heart of healthcare delivery, playing a crucial role in promotion, disease prevention and treatment. A feature of Nursing Now being the Nightingale Leadership Challenge, which calls for every employer of nurses globally to provide leadership and development training for young nurses and midwives in 2020, the Year of the Nurse and Midwife. The aim globally is to have at least 20,000 young nurses and midwives benefitting from this training,” she said, going on to mention that the BNA was also involved and had six young nurses expected to benefit from the programme.
Bringing it back to the woman of the moment – Founder of the association Eunice Gibson, President Waterman highlighted some of her achievements despite the obstacles faced at the time.
“The achievements of our Founder Eunice Gibson emerge out of much of what we continue to grapple with today – dating back to 1935 – such as deficient working conditions, even inconsistent payment of salaries, among many others. Being dissatisfied with the working conditions at that time provided the impetus for her strategic plan to form this illustrious organisation. Our founder’s vision was one of inclusiveness, bringing together nurses who were fragmented, unifying the fraternity and giving it professional status and empowerment, with ten nurses working diligently alongside her,” she said.
Adding that she was also one of the early co-ordinators of nursing education and the developed District Nursing Service Centre in 1937, Waterman also listed several of the advancements she procured for the profession.
“Further expansion of her innovative ideas emerged when the demand for community service escalated and she then started a clinic at Sharon Moravian Church, which became the precursor to the well-known Enmore Health Clinic, with various well-known clinics located at Carrington’s Village School and Richmond Secondary School. These clinics would be considered precursors to the now polyclinics/health centres located all across Barbados. The prominent health centre, formerly Warrens, is now named the Eunice Gibson Polyclinic, very fitting for her outstanding contribution in this area,” she said, before adding that she also made contributions to public service as one of the first two women elected to the Bridgetown City Council and served from 1959-1967. (MP)