An online course for nursing assistant training will soon be available as part of government’s push to expand access to training programmes in the health sector with the expectation of recruiting some 1,000 persons.
Minister of Health, Dr Frank Anthony, during the commissioning of the $120 million Diamond Health Centre on Thursday, disclosed that the application process will be opened for the nursing assistant training programme this month, a Department of Public Information (DPI) release stated yesterday.
The online course is expected to commence in early January 2024 and will run for one year.
The DPI informed that the eligibility criteria include at least three Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) subjects, including Mathematics and English.
The minister went on to briefly explain the programme. “We are looking for people to join this programme [and] we want to recruit at least 1,000 persons to come into that programme…You will sign a contract with us and we will give you a stipend of 16,000 per month…And once we put all the administrative things in place, from early January, we want to start that programme,” Dr Anthony stated.
Additionally, he noted that persons who are also desirous of completing the three-year registered nursing programme will need to meet the eligibility requirements which include five subjects.
The aim of the online initiative is to ensure that the health sector is sufficiently staffed to provide healthcare services, as the government continues with its rapid infrastructure agenda to construct several health centres and regional hospitals countrywide.
In this instance, the health minister added that some 1,200 persons are being trained in the programme.
“And next year, when we open up the platform again. We want a minimum of 1,500 people to come into the programme. We are looking generally to train about 5,000 registered nurses. And we want them from every region of the country,” he underlined.
“All of you here from the community, I want you to spread the message in the area. Help us to find people so that when we open up the platform, we can have hundreds of people applying for these programmes.”
In addition to these programmes, the ministry offers other courses including those for community health workers, biomedical technicians, and pharmacy assistants, the release added.
