Nurses’ training has become a dismal failure

Mar 08, 2014 News

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– Every time a nurse fails, taxpayers’ money is going down the drain – Dr. George Norton

Leader of the political Opposition coalition, A Partnership for National Unity (APNU), Brig. David Granger is demanding a complete transformation of the training of nurses, in an effort to improve patient care.
This was categorically expressed yesterday at the headquarters of the APNU Leader on Hadfield Streets, Georgetown.
His call was further supported by his counterparts, Shadow Minister of Health, Dr. George Norton and one of the newest additions to the National Assembly, Dr. Karen Cummings.
Granger, during his presentation, wasted no time in highlighting to members of the media that even the Guyana Nurses’Association (GNA) has pointed out that there are problems facing the health care system which have become chronic. One of the most serious is that of the conditions and quality of nurses’ training.

The political leader said that his party has noted the public concerns expressed over repeated reports of mismanagement in hospital wards, mistreatment of patients and mistakes leading to maternal deaths.
Further, the three nursing schools; The Georgetown School of Nursing, the New Amsterdam School of Nursing and the Charles Roza Nursing School which are being controlled by the administration of the Ministry of Health, have experienced many difficulties.
Proof of this is the most recent Professional Nursing Examination which reflected the “deep-rooted difficulties and deficiencies in training.”
Granger noted that the results of the nursing students in the final examinations in October 2013, which were released, last month indicated that of 120 student nurses from the Georgetown School of Nursing, only 19 were successful. Some 225 student nurses entered the three -year Professional Nursing Programme in April 2010 but just over 120 proved eligible to write the final examinations.
The Brigadier also said that senior officials of the Georgetown Public Hospital and the Guyana Nurses’ Association expressed their “alarm at the high failure rate of the last cohort of student nurses from Georgetown, Linden and New Amsterdam.”
The APNU Leader went on to elaborate on some of the main problems facing the schools. These were overcrowding, understaffing, insufficient training materials, inadequate infrastructure and indiscipline on the part of some students.
On the issue of overcrowding, Granger related his concern over the number of student nurses that are recruited into each batch.
“It is reported that there were about 90 professional student nurses in a single cohort in 2007: the number was 144 in 208 and 255 in 2009. The intakes have since been reduced. Such large student populations affect the length of time students experience practical studies, for example, at the Intensive Care Unit, Accident and Emergency Unit and Operating Theatre. Large batches take longer and reduce the time available for each component.”
Moreover, as it relates to understaffing, the Member of Parliament said that there are insufficient full-time nursing tutors and that the number is inadequate in relation to the sizes of the super classes of students.
This problem is further complicated by the lack of audio visuals and relevant and current text books which are required to enhance learning in the classrooms.
In addition to this, “Unhygienic sanitary facilities have affected the large numbers of students…Efforts have been made to build ‘annexes’ but as long as large classes persist, congestion is likely to adversely affect comfort and standards.”
Granger then made reference to credible reports, which over the past five years have called attention to the said issues and the effects of migration.
“The reports all pointed out that the local rate of attrition from the nurse labour market was 8.5 percent in 2007. According to the data provided, 75 nurses were reported to have left the nurse labour market for various reasons. The attrition rate continues up to the present.”
Moreover, Brig. Granger said that Guyana spends approximately $600M on nurses’ education annually but it is losing too many graduates through migration to foreign countries.
Reiterating this notion was Norton, who said that “What we have in Guyana is professionalism being sacrificed at the altar of political expediency.”
Meanwhile, “The performance of nurses at the Georgetown Hospital leaves much to be desired…and of course there is another situation where you have 52 patients to two nurses and you find that even if they are willing to work, they might be clearly unable to complete the tasks.”
The politician also reminded of a situation where a contract for a $30M nursing school was signed in 2010 but to date the project still remains in construction phase.
“That is unacceptable. We are now in 2014 and yet we have in the Georgetown School of Nurses both males and females using the same washrooms.  That is a situation that is not only about the money but the interest, and that desire to improve the conditions under which the nurses use.”
Norton then stressed, “We continue to bury our heads into the sands and saying that everything is ok. Every time a nurse fails, taxpayers’ money is going down the drain and it is time we take the bull by the horns and devise solutions to the problems.”
Dr. Cummings used the opportunity to congratulate those nurses that were successful in their final exams and those who strive to uphold the Florence Nightingale’s Pledge.

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