Almost 200 graduate from nursing school

Nov 17, 2010 News

Some of the graduates at the National Cultural Centre yesterday

– lauded for performing well despite constraints

Close to 200 nursing professionals are poised to take up roles in the public health system having graduated at varying levels yesterday. The occasion was the Georgetown School of Nursing’s 27th Biennial Graduation Exercise, which was held at the National Cultural Centre.
Addressing the graduates yesterday was Permanent Secretary within the Ministry of Health, Hydar Ally, who opined that the batch represented one of the more successful ever produced by the Nursing School.
“I congratulate you because when I looked at the pass rate I felt good.”
Ally revealed that there is a concern within the Ministry over what is considered an unacceptable failure rate.
“It has been unacceptably high and we have had several discussions about what we can do about it, and from the report I’m hearing I felt good. I consider this an extraordinary performance…”
And the success, he said, could be considered even more spectacular when the constraints under which students performed are highlighted.
Teaching sessions were delivered under the tutelage of one principal tutor, six nursing tutors, three of whom are retired and returned to give service, according to Principal Nursing Tutor, Norma Semple. She revealed that 25 part-time lecturers supported the tutorial staff, whose efforts were boosted by five additional staff members, all of whom are graduates with Bachelor’s Degrees.
According to Semple, classes remained at the three-flat 220 East Street, North Cummingsburg, Georgetown location, which has facilities for five classrooms, one learning laboratory, one library and two officers. However, Semple related that the classrooms are very cramped and were not very conducive for learning, a state of affairs which has been repeatedly emphasised.
Nonetheless, for the two years under review, the school conducted four training programmes – Professional Nursing, Nursing Assistants, Post-Basic Midwifery and Single Train Midwifery.
Semple noted that the Post-Basic Midwifery Programme caters for the training of Registered Nurses and Nursing Assistants, while the Single Training Programme caters for persons who are drawn from the hinterland and rural areas. She reported that the number of students per intake has increased significantly to approximately more than 200 percent with an overall population in excess of 500 students receiving training from the outlined programme.
The last group was housed at the Critchlow Labour College for a period of three months on a shift system. The students were later housed at the Annexe of the Georgetown School of Nursing which is situated in Kingston, with the same shift system.
Presently the students on the evening shift have been transferred to the East Street building. “It is hoped that all of the students will be accommodated in East Street after the completion of the renovation work at the school. This arrangement will allow for better supervision and management of the students,” Semple added.
Over the period under review, the total of professional nursing students amounted to 397, Nursing Assistant Students (124), Post Basic Midwifery (50) and Single Trained Midwifery Students (28), resulting in a total of 599 students.
Yesterday’s graduation comprised a total of 197 persons who joined the Nursing School between 2005, 2007 and 2008. The graduates included 95 Professional Nurses – who received diplomas – and 79 Nursing Assistants, 21 Post-Basic and Two Single Trained Midwives, all of whom received certificates.
The best graduating student was Professional Nurse Kamana Burnham, who became eligible for a cash award of $50,000. He was followed by his colleague Victor Vanbuckley who is also eligible for a cash award, valued at $40,000.
The cash awards were announced by Asquith Bristol who had worked closely with some of the graduates during their classes.
He also announced that a Bristol award will be introduced at the next graduation ceremony which would also see the best graduating student becoming eligible for a substantial monetary reward.
And students, according to Semple, performed very well during the period under review yielding an overall 95 percent students’ pass rate at the General Nursing Council State Qualifying examination. She outlined that there was a 91 percent success in the Nursing Assistant Programme, 100 percent success in both the Post Basic and Single Trained Midwifery Programmes and 91 percent success in the Professional Nurses Programme. Twenty-one students were deemed outstanding and three, Semple noted, were exceptional performers.