Seventeen nurses were rewarded yesterday for their hard work and dedication after they completed a year-long critical care nursing programme facilitated by the Georgetown Public Hospital (GPH).
The programme was initiated following concern over the need for experienced and qualified critical care nurses at the various hospitals. The participants were drawn from the GPH, the West Demerara Regional Hospital, the Suddie Hospital and the Linden Hospital.
At the simple graduation ceremony held at the Multi-Purpose Hall at the GPH yesterday, Audrey Corry, Director of Nursing Services, noted her satisfaction that the nurses had done well in the programme.
“This is the first such programme and although we can do better, I am satisfied that the nurses did fairly well,” she said.
Corry added that ethics was one of the topics strongly emphasised. “We have to be more careful in how we take care of critical patients, because they need more care than regular patients,” she charged.
Although the programme is not yet accredited by the General Nursing Council in Guyana, Corry urged the nurses to not despair, since other programmes in the past have taken quite a few years to gain recognition by the board. “No sacrifice is too great when it comes to developing yourself and your country. We are working to forge ahead with more specialist programmes to make staff more competitive,” she said.
Corry added that the training came at an opportune time since there is a great need for critical care nurses in Guyana. Corry further added that specialty training is something that must be done and that although it is the first such programme, its continuation is desired.
Meanwhile, Assistant Director of Nursing Services Owen John said that all the students had satisfactory results and that the hospital was extremely proud of them. He stated that the course was designed to enable students to demonstrate sound critical care effectively in the delivery of quality health care.
He added that the lectures were delivered by qualified clinical care nurses from Guyana and overseas.
The nurses were each presented with certificates and pins to show that they have been trained in critical nursing care. The graduates are Sandra Badley and Abiola King, both the Linden Hospital; Shaunette Abrams, Adunee Archer Ramlall, Latoya Charles, Shinelle Higgins, Kuburat Onsanya, Nalini Persaud, Melinda Persaud and Diana Sutton of the GPH; Melissa Castello and Christabelle Fitzpatrick of the St. Joseph’s Mercy Hospital; Trichelle Fraser and Basmattie Salim of the Suddie Hospital; and Georgiana Jones, Devon McLennon and Melinda Patterson of the West Demerara Regional Hospital.
