Diaspora answers PM’s call

PRIME MINISTER Mia Amor Mottley’s recent appeal to the diaspora to return home and lend their expertise in the fight against COVID-19 did not fall on deaf ears.
So much so, already a team of registered nurses, members of the Barbados Nurses’ Association of America Inc. are on the ground at the Harrison Point Isolation Facility, in St. Lucy.
The six Barbadians, and one Trinidadian, have in fact given up their much needed holiday to fly to Barbados to assist.
During a press confer- ence yesterday, Director of Nursing Services at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH), Henderson Pinder, welcomed the nurses and thanked them for their speedy response.
“With the increased number of COVID cases in the island, and the in- creased need for nursing personnel at the isolation facilities, at our main hospital, it became very hard to find nursing personnel. And so, I was extremely pleased when Dr. Cicely Wilkinson and her team reached out to us – we have six Barbadians and one Trinidadian who are joining us. And so, they are here at Harrison Point, and they are already engaged in the work of caring for patients at this facility.”
The team comprises of experienced nurses in crit- ical care, accident and emergency, swabbing, as well as a family nurse practitioner. Mr. Pinder elaborated that their visit will not only provide Barbados with much needed help, but provide the local nurses with a period of respite. “As you would be aware, we have been in this battle for the last two years and these nurses have been on the forefront of the battle fighting daily, sometimes 12 or more hours a day,” he pointed out.
“What has happened here with this medical team coming on the ground, they will provide the nurses with a chance to just sit back, and slow their pace; get a chance to get a breather... They have made it clear to me that they are all RNs ready to work and I want to on behalf of the Government and the people of Barbados thank them immensely for their contribution to health care at this time.

“All of them have a very strong knowledge of their particular expertise and they will indeed pass on some of that knowledge to our persons here. They have been all at the forefront of the COVID battle in their particular hospi- tals, and so they’re com- ing with experiences from their particular environ- ments. And with us to- gether as a team, we will try to see what practices and techniques and new developments as it relates
to the treatment of COVID that we can imple- ment here in Barbados that will be beneficial to our patients,” he added.

While nurses from Cuba have returned to help on the frontline, Mr. Pinder revealed that Barbadian personnel are receiving the necessary training to be able to join the team at the isolation facilities.
“As you would be aware, 45 Cubans came back to Barbados a couple days ago – 33 of them were from before; 12 of them are new... We are also training up our Barbadian nurses here in critical care – short courses. For those who have been interested, we need to make sure that they have the skills be- cause most of the patients here at Harrison Point are in need of some form of critical care... We are also looking in the near future to make visits to Ghana and other countries where we can recruit additional nurses to help us.”
Dr. Cicely Wilkinson, President of the Barbados Nurses’ Association of America recalled that planning for this mission was quick because Prime Minister Mottley said she needed their assistance “like yesterday”. “Our first day was on Monday and at first, we were over- whelmed when we saw the area, but as we started working, we understood how the nurses here at this time are feeling. But I will tell you, we were very impressed with the facil- ity and also the team- work.”
She revealed that some nurses will be on island for one week, while others two weeks, however another group will follow.
“We are here to volunteer, but we are using our own vacation and we are paying our passage to come... Some of us are working Monday to Saturday and will be on a plane Sunday.”