Despite challenges, tutors committed to training more nurses

Aug 26, 2009 News

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By Sharmain Cornette

With a reported pass rate of 14 from a class of 54 students who had trained to become staff nurses, tutors at the Georgetown School of Nursing may be confronted with a major challenge in their quest to produce an increased amount of nurses to the public health sector.
Health Minister Dr Leslie Ramsammy recently disclosed that with the addition of 65 new doctors to the sector, the need for additional support staff will become a crucial requirement. And among the much needed support staff are nurses, the Minister had disclosed, even as he pointed out that the Ministry’s training programmes will have to be accelerated over the next few years.
However, Principal Nursing Tutor, Ms Pearl Munroe, has disclosed that although everything humanly possible is being done at the Georgetown school to produce a significant number of nurses on an annual basis, there is still much more to be done to improve the standard of the institution.

And among the most crucial requirements, she said, is the need for additional tutors to deliver the respective nursing courses. Currently the Georgetown School of Nursing, situated at 320 East Street, North Cummingsburg, Georgetown, has 10 staffers within its employ, of which seven are trained tutors. Some of them have over 30 years of service in the nursing field, but yet are subjected to performing their duties in a most uncomfortable environment.
An external look at the school reveals a lop-sided sign which has the potential of being a danger. Inside the three-flat building one gets the impression that no repairs were undertaken for years and could be easily overwhelmed with heat of the sun that permeates the atmosphere.
At the last nurses graduation programme (October 2008) held at the National Cultural Centre, Sister Munroe had reported that the school which accommodated the various classes was very cramped throughout the training programmes, and therefore, was not regarded as conducive for learning.
The Principal had attributed the cramped state of the facility to the increased intake of students which she noted was approximately more than 200 percent of the amount that is usually trained.
Currently about 126 students are in training at the school and every possible strategy is engaged to make the efforts of the nursing tutors an ultimate success.
Stalwart Nursing Tutor, Sister Yvonne Beaton, for example has been a nursing tutor since 1978.  According to her, there have been many instances when she was the lone tutor administering the professional nursing programme, a situation which has proven to be one of the biggest challenges at the school. The school offers programmes including professional nursing, midwifery and nursing assistant.
Speaking to this newspaper yesterday, Sister Beaton disclosed that there was a plan some years ago that the school should have no more than 40 students in each group being trained. Also, there was a requirement for a tutor/student ratio of about 15 students to a single tutor.
However, this is currently not the case at the school, Beaton underscored.
“Right now we are having intakes of about 60 and the last time about 140 plus. Tutors have not increased; they have diminished, so that is the situation we have. We cannot mentor the students as we would like,” Beaton noted.
And although the requirements for students entering the nursing profession is at least four CXC subjects (grades one to three), with a grade one in English Language, this is not always the case.
It was revealed that the nursing tutors or the Principal Tutor for that matter is not allowed to screen the students’ qualifications.
As a result, students with grades three and four in English Language are in some instances allowed to undertake the courses offered.
In order for a student to become a trained staff nurse they are required to pass a three-part examination. Failure to pass each component, subjects the student to re-sitting the examination.
But according to Beaton, while this may be the reality at the school, with additional tutors’ weak students could be easily identified and special plans can be engaged to work with them separately. “Many times it was me alone in the professional programme. If you have 60 students you don’t have time to do evaluation.”
Among the other  dedicated trained nursing tutors, who despite the evident challenges at the school continue to share their knowledge with the nursing students, are Ms Gwen Dalgetty, a nurse for 48 years and Deborah Murphy who has been in the profession for 27 years. The remuneration they receive is not attractive and reports are that some of them are in receipt of a mere $150 housing allowance.
And as she reported last year, Munroe disclosed yesterday that despite the challenges, the staffers continue to operate at a high level of commitment.
She emphasised, too, that there is need for motivating factors which could encourage tutors to continue to share their knowledge with the varying levels of nursing students.
At last year’s graduation she listed the offering of duty free allowances, increases in meal and uniform allowances, as well as salaries. In addition to exposing tutors to training programmes, Munroe had noted that efforts must be made by the Ministry to address the accommodation and physical state of the school.
According to reports, none of the recommendations have been addressed.

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