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Scores of nursing students being selected for training – Dr Ramsaran

Jan 19, 2010 News

The notion of having local doctors tutor students of nursing has attracted some level of stubbornness on the part of tutors within the system, according to Minister within the Health Ministry, Dr Bheri Ramsaran.
The move to include doctors, Dr Ramsaran said, is geared at increasing the number of tutors within the country’s nursing schools given that more persons are being accepted for the various nursing programmes.
The intent, the Minister said, is to have staggered classes whereby trained nursing tutors facilitate classes during the day and doctors facilitate sessions in the evening.
However, according to Dr Ramsaran, “This has been like rocket science for the establishment…but this approach of staggering classes will be implemented. The wise ones in the sector are telling me that while we have good qualified doctors they don’t have training in pedagogic…they aren’t teachers…but it was through channels like these they came from,” the Minister related.
According to him, when training for nurses commenced back in the day with a mere 16 students classes were facilitated by doctors. This, Dr Ramsaran said, was accepted because then the system was not demanding in terms of standard and rigorous regulations.
However, in recognition of the need for more staff to contribute toward the delivery of health care, more persons were accepted for training thus creating a need for more tutors in the system.  And given the fact that a lot of doctors are capable of teaching, a decision was taken to have them incorporated into the training schedule.
“We have been looking at methods to address this situation but sometimes the people in the nursing profession are not flexible enough to understand and take advantage of new opportunities,” said a perplexed Dr Ramsaran.
He emphasised that similar to the doctors’ training programme which has expanded significantly over the years, the nurses’ programme has been accepting a vast amount of persons. Two years ago the intake of nursing students amounted to about 250 while the previous year saw in excess of 400 persons being trained.
In addition to the fact that the faculty of the nursing schools had begun to age the availability of tutors had reduced due to attrition which included persons migrating to greener pastures both locally and overseas.
“We started looking at the possibility of having our doctors do some teaching. Unfortunately there is a stubbornness in the training division.”
However, once the new move being mooted by the Minister is introduced large classes at the Georgetown School of Nursing could be reduced, with regular tutors being timetabled for a 07:30 to 15:30 hours session and doctors taking on a later shift after completing clinical work at the Georgetown Public Hospital.
“These are things we have to address… we have been shooting ourselves in the foot because we are not utilising what exists but now we are trying to put things in place,” the Minister assured.
Meanwhile, he disclosed that repairs are ongoing at the Georgetown Nursing School and at the Library and the general facility at the Charles Rosa Nursing School. According to the Minister, he visited the Linden facilities early last year and found it to be in appalling conditions thus resources were mobilised through the Health Ministry and the Pan American Health Organisation.
Meanwhile, the Minister in addressing the question of students’ qualifications said that every effort is made to ensure that only quality persons are accepted to the nursing programmes. He noted that in addition to the requisite CXC subjects, persons are also accepted on the basis of certain other programmes they would have undertaken.
However, he noted that like many other systems of education, if applicants do not have certain requirements remedial classes are offered. “This has nothing to do with losing quality. If you have the qualification you get in but we also cater to weaknesses in the bigger society. If you can achieve five subjects we believe that you can achieve a sixth subject.”
This method, the Minister said has worked effectively over the years and “incidentally many of the seniors who are in position would fall in the same category…There are some who came with all the qualifications but if they also fail we don’t kick them out we give them a chance,” Dr Ramsaran asserted.

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