The 39th Annual General Meeting of the Regional Nursing Body of CARICOM begins today with an opening ceremony at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Conference Room in Kingstown, from 8:30 a.m.{{more}}

At the three-day meeting, the body will track progress towards the establishment of the Caribbean Examinations Council-managed Regional Examination for Nurse Registration (RENR) and propose elements of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for cooperation between CXC and the Nursing Councils, with regard to the examination administration, including an agreement on the administrative manuals.

The meeting will also approve updates on Nursing Practice and Education Standards reviewed at the Fortieth Executive Committee Meeting of the RNB held in March 2012 and receive updates on arrangements for accrediting Nursing Training Programmes. Current trends in Regional and Global Health Policy of particular relevance to the Nursing Community within CARICOM will also be discussed.

The Regional Nursing Body (RNB) is a non-statutory, autonomous, collaborative and advisory organization, which was established at the inaugural meeting held, in Guyana in 1972. It was set up through agreements of the Governments of the participating territories and by resolution of nursing leaders and Ministers of Health. It makes its own policies, regulates and controls its own affairs, with the approval and consent of Ministers of Health of the unit Governments. The Regional Nursing Body is administratively attached to the Health Section within the CARICOM Secretariat in Guyana and is answerable to the Caribbean Health Ministers Conference.

The meeting comes to an end on Thursday.