An online five-semester Master’s degree training programme for nurses is expected to start soon at the University of Guyana with five persons, in collaboration with St Joseph College in Connecticut, USA, and it will be done free of cost.
Minister in the Ministry of Health Dr Bheri Ramsaran said yesterday at the launching of the programme at the Education Lecture Theatre, University of Guyana, that he is happy with the initiative to advance nursing in Guyana as nurses will be trained in two key areas as educators and administrators.
“These persons will be trained beyond clinical activities and will be able to be better managers in the nursing sector,” the Government Information Agency (GINA) quoted the minister as saying.
The programme was initiated after the need was recognized for changes in the nursing profession and to develop nurses with improved capabilities to serve countrywide, GINA reported.
It said too that the online programme would not interrupt persons who are working or engaged in other activities and students will have easy access to further their education.
Also attending the launching were UG Vice-Chancellor Dr James Rose and Nursing Coordinator of the Faculty of Health Science Gwendolyn Tross.
Dr Rose commended the health sciences faculty for taking up the challenge to improve nursing skills in Guyana, while noting that UG has much potential that is yet to be realized despite the challenges it faces everyday. He added that UG is not being portrayed truthfully by many persons.
And Tross said that the launching of the programme is another significant milestone in the local nursing profession, and recalled that a similar Bachelor’s degree programme was launched in the same Lecture Theatre eight years ago.