| The overcrowding situation at the country’s nursing schools is perhaps one of the prices that the Ministry of Health must pay in its quest for further development of the health sector.Minister within the Ministry of Health Dr Bheri RamsarranThis observation was made yesterday by Minister within the Health Ministry, Dr Bheri Ramsarran, as he reflected on the massive strides that have been made to improve the delivery of health care, which he noted includes the training of an increased number of nurses.He opined, though, that concerns have been raised in some sections of society over the massive number of nurses being inducted into the health care system, which initially catered for smaller numbers.“We could probably be criticised for this, but then we had to make some decisions…Hospitals are being built, health centres are being refurbished, and so we need staff,” Minister Ramsarran asserted.He, however, acknowledged that the Ministry of Health has indeed been stretching the limits of the existing training facilities – the Georgetown School of Nursing, the New Amsterdam School of Nursing, and the Charles Rosa School of Nursing in Linden.“Over the past few years,Cheap NFL Jerseys, we have inducted just under 1,000 new nurses. This year,Nike Air Max 90 Black Women, I personally inducted 430 new nurses. Last year, in February, we inducted 250…While that was being done, we already had in the system over 600 persons at the training level,” the minister added.But in recognition of the evident challenge, Minister Ramsarran said that the ministry has decided to rent additional space for classrooms in Georgetown and New Amsterdam. He noted that similar arranges have been made in Linden.In Georgetown, space has been rented at the Critchlow Labour College, and since Monday last, classes have been operational there.“One hundred and thirty five first-year students are already being tutored in more spacious accommodation there…They are a bit more comfortable there…Conditions may not be five-star but they are definitely better than the previously cramped condition.”In the case of the New Amsterdam school, the minister said, efforts were made to rent a spacious private sector building which the ministry is obliged to modify to make it suitable for classroom purposes.“My idea was to have it up and running for the beginning of the term, so that we could have decanted some of the students from the crowded nursing school building. And we could have started some other new classes. For example, the midwifery class has suffered a bit. It has been deferred because of cramped conditions.”Until the private sector facility is completed, the minister said, the ministry will intervene in the midwifery programme by allowing it to be accommodated at the New Amsterdam Hospital.The minister noted, too, that he is appreciative of the tutors, students and parents who have persevered with the ministry,Nike Air Max Shoes Sale, even as he added that bringing about a solution could sometimes take time.According to the minister, over the past few years,Air Max 1 Atmos, the administration has in a significant way been replacing the infrastructure of the health sector, as was assured in the 2006 manifesto.This, he noted, is evident in the construction of hospitals at Diamond, Leonora, Suddie and Mahaicony, which are all up and running even as similar works at Mabaruma and Lethem are taking shape.In addition to the Ophthalmology Centre at Port Mourant, the minister said, massive works are ongoing at Linden, while small scale work, such as improvement to the Moruca Hospital, has commenced.“This means that we are improving our structures, but structures alone don’t provide services. We need to get more doctors, more nurses, and more technicians.”But, according to the minister, over the years, this objective has been a major challenge to the Health Ministry. This he attributed to the attrition of staff due to migration.“We have bright people who are well trained, but, as it turns out, we are training for stronger economies,” the minister opined.However, he assured that the ministry will not give up training, in order to give young people an opportunity and to satisfy the need to create jobs,Wholesale NHL Jerseys 2020, even as a better health team is established.It was for this reason,Nike Air Max 1 Mens Cheap, he divulged, that the ministry had engaged a programme which allows for the training of hundreds of doctors over the past few years.“If you read the report coming out of the Cuba/Caricom meeting, you will see that this is now even being expanded. Over the next two years, Guyana is going to be training 200 more doctors in Cuba.”And according to the minister, the doctors are not being trained in a vacuum but, rather, to take over the constructed facilities which are currently being manned by Cuban doctors.But doctors alone, the minister said, cannot provide health care services; thus massive amounts of nurses are also being trained to fill the gaps that had existed before, and to cater for some losses. |
