QEH nurse shortage being addressed

The shortage of nurses at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) is being addressed.
Director of Nursing Services Henderson Pinder has given this assurance, while also making it clear that the number of healthcare professionals who departed the island’s primary acute care medical facility for opportunities overseas, has not been as vast as reported.
“The exodus of nurses from Barbados has always been an area of great concern. Yes, there are persons who have left the institution to go overseas, but at this time I want to say that we have not recorded that level of exodus which persons are referring too,” he stressed.

“Yes, some of the funds that are being offered in the remuneration packages do entice others but for all intents and purposes our nurses have not been leaving in any great numbers. I personally keep a daily check on our numbers to look at the exit rate and it has not been a large number”.

Pinder was at the time speaking to members of the media on the sidelines of the closing ceremony of CancerSupport Services (CSS)Palliative Care Enrichment Programme 2019.

He said that the QEH has been redoubling its efforts in terms of recruitment from other countries, such as the Philippines, India, Africa as well as our Caribbean neighbours.

“Also, we are working with the Barbados Community College (BCC) and the Ministry of Education to see if we can improve our pass rate which will ensure a greater number of new graduates coming into the nursing profession,” he indicated, further explaining, “BCC takes in students every year and they have been reporting good pass rate with the BCC examination. The problem arises when in order to practise within the Caribbean region or anywhere in the world, you need to sit and pass the regional examination which is your licensure examination.”

“However, to help in the situation we have opened up a number of positions at the hospital that we call a“graduate nurse” so that person would have passed the BCC exam, but not the regional exam – and they could function in that capacity for about 18 months before successing the programme”.

At the QEH there are currently 436 registered nurses, 185 nursing assistants and 50 health aids.

Accident & Emergency Department
“We have been increasing the number of nurses in the Accident & Emergency because of the plans for expansion of that department, so we have been incrementally increasing the number of nurses,” said Pinder, noting the placement of an additional six nurses in A & E in recent weeks, bringing the staffing compliment in that critical department to approximately 30.

“These persons were recruited specifically for the area. They come with critical care and emergency nursing training. They have come from extra-regional areas and they are helping us in terms of meeting the numbers for the projected expansion in A&E.”

The Director of Nursing Services further expressed that the QEH is always seeking to increase the number of persons with the prerequisite training to work in the A&E Department.

“One could understand that the persons who are in Accident and Emergency are kind of a “special breed” – their training, personality; the characteristics that they possess are critical to helping us keep that customer service basis going, yet the speed of operation in A&E and that common touch”. (TL)

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