The shortage of Nurses

Editor: The shortage of nurses here is a subject that is much discussed. This situation of course is cause for concern and efforts must be made to have it remedied as soon as possible and to effectively plan so as to avoid another reoccurrence.

Migration is something no government can stop. People, and in this case nurses, migrate for different reasons. Among the many reasons are better salaries and working conditions. This has its own challenges, such as rent, utility bills, and cost of groceries etc. which sometimes when you analyse the better salary as against the expenses, the question can be asked , ‘is it worth it’? The answer to this question will vary depending on the country and terms of agreement.

Migration will always take place. It is something we have to live with and that is why it is important that measures must be in place to minimize this situation.

The bonding of nurses and other civil servants is a good move but not the perfect solution. In most cases the nurses that migrate are senior nurses who would have served for more than five years. So when the bonding is completed they will migrate.

This situation has made us aware that there maybe some underlying situations that are not addressed. Maybe also some listening ear should be given to the nurses, and I strongly recommend an active nurses association void of party politics.

Looking at it from a positive point of view SVG nurses are in demand because in many cases they are considered as amongst the best in the Caribbean. This is indeed a plus, therefore there is a demand for Vincentian nurses.

A continuation of student nurses must be kept. Upon completion they must be offered a job once there are vacancies. After all, it will be bad to have trained nurses unemployed, while there are vacancies in the service.

It is important to address any concern by the nurses so as to have a comfortable working environment.

With the leaving of many of our good, seasoned nurses, it has dented a bit the quality of health care since many of our nurses would be overworked and of course there would not be enough nurses to properly give attention to patients. This is rather unfortunate. The recruiting of Cuban nurses is a good move and must be seen as a positive solution to the current situation.

We know that many who graduated from the School of Nursing and were unemployed would now be employed. This is welcome news to the many young nurses who can serve as nurses.

In 2001 when the ULP came into office there was a shortage of nurses where the current Prime Minister hired Cuban nurses at that time to fill the many vacancies that existed then. Now we are seeing a similar development in the nursing where there is a shortage and Cuban nurses are recruited to fill some of the vacancies.

So here is a mischievous question- in 2001 there was a shortage of nurses and it brought an end to the NDP era. Now in 2022 we are facing a similar situation, does this mean the end of the ULP era? Only time will tell.

Kennard King