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175 graduate to join health sector
The Public Health sector is expected to be significantly boosted with the addition of 175 trained nursing personnel who graduated yesterday at the 26th Graduation Exercise of the Georgetown School of Nursing.
The graduation ceremony, which was held at the National Cultural Centre, saw certificates and diplomas being awarded to 41 students who completed the professional nursing programme; 50 students who completed the post basic midwifery programme; 25 students who completed the single train midwifery programme; and 59 students who completed the nursing assistance programme.
It was disclosed that the overall pass rate was 90 per cent. However, 18 of the graduates were singled out for special awards, among them Ms Michelle Christian who copped a special trophy for her performance throughout the Professional Nursing programme.
Mr Noel Holder, Director of Health Sciences Education, in commending the students for their dedication to their respective programmes urged them to display the ethics and team spirit tactics that they would have learnt during their learning sessions.
In delivering the Principal’s Report, Acting Principal Nursing Tutor, Ms Pearl Munroe, addressed the overall performance of the students of the Georgetown School of Nursing for the period November 2006 through October 2008.
According to her, with a mere six full-time nursing tutors who were complemented by 15 part-time lecturers, the students were exposed to in depth learning sessions.
Munroe reported that the three-storey 320 East Street, North Cummingsburg, Georgetown, school which accommodated the various classes was very cramped throughout the training programmes and therefore was not regarded as conducive for learning.
She attributed the cramped state of the facility to the increased intake of students, which she noted is approximately 200 per cent more than the amount that is usually trained.
At the moment, she said, a total of 358 students are enrolled at the school, noting that there were others who have withdrawn.
According to Munroe, the students’ performance has recorded an overall 97 per cent pass at the General Nursing Council state qualifying examination. She outlined that there was 91 per cent success in the nursing assistance programme, 98 per cent success in the post basic midwifery programme, 91 per cent in the professional nurses’ programme, and 92 per cent success in the single trained midwifery programme.
And according to Mrs Munroe, the tutorial staff with the help of the past time tutors must be commended for their efforts. She noted that apart from general academic achievement, the graduates were able to expose students in areas that lend to the development of positive attitude needed for the world of work.
The Principal added that the staff continued to operate at a high level of commitment despite a number of challenges. She noted that there is need for motivating factors which could encourage tutors to continue to share their knowledge with the varying levels of nursing students.
Among these she listed the offering of duty free allowances to tutors, increases in meal and uniform allowances as well as salaries, to which the audience responded with resounding applause.
In addition to exposing tutors to training programmes, Munroe noted that efforts must be made by the Ministry to address the accommodation and physical state of the school.
Guest Speaker, Mr Hydar Ally, said that the Ministry is well aware of the situation at the school, adding that already some concerns have been addressed while plans are being streamlined to address the others.
According to him, efforts are being made at the moment to find an alternative venue to rent for the operation of the school until the Ministry can expand the facility to accommodate the increased number of students.
More than 400 nursing students were admitted to the various programmes this year, which marks the largest number of nurses in training in Guyana’s history, according to Ally.
He, however, noted that there is still the factor of nurses’ migration. The Ministry has been able to retain a critical core of qualified nurses even as efforts are made to improve the number of nurses in the profession, he added.
The graduates will be dispatched to the various public health facilities, including the four diagnostic centres at Leonora, Suddie, Diamond and Mahaicony.
According to Ms Holder, it is anticipated that there will be a boost to the quality care offered by the public health sector.
A section of the graduates
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