Importance of ethical nursing gains greater attention

Apr 30, 2014 News

Although the health sector’s ability to train and retain quality nurses has in recent years been under the spotlight, Minister of Health Dr Bheri Ramsaran is adamant that the issue that oftentimes plagues the sector is that of ethical conduct.
The Minister candidly expressed his conviction during an interview with this publication pointing out that “sometimes we are embarrassed, not with the quality, but ethics…the same training that they get here they go overseas to perform as professionals but sometimes their behaviour (here) is so embarrassing.”

Minister of Health, Dr. Bheri Ramsaran

Dr Ramsaran was at the time commenting on reports of the less than desirable manner in which some nursing professionals operate, which has in fact been impacting the integrity of the system. But addressing this prevailing state of affairs, the Health Minister said, is not merely the responsibility of those charged with managing the health sector but rather those within the wider society as well.
“We need to, as parents, as managers, as trade unionists and other managers of society, look at this (situation),” stressed the Minister, who insisted that “there is a small bunch (of nurses), and because we are training more and more nurses, it means that that small bunch would become more evident…it is a matter of crunching the figures.”
He underscored that while the sector is faced with the evident challenge, “the vast majority (of nurses) do behave properly and do deliver ethical, compassionate service with care and love.”
Moreover, he disclosed that strategic moves are being streamlined to address the conduct of health professionals, thus attention will not only be directed to those within the nursing profession. However, the nursing arena is expected to get immense scrutiny, since according to the Minister “we have exploded the number of nurses significantly, but not without looking at quality too.”
Based on records from the Guyana Nursing Council that were compiled a few years ago, there were in excess of 700 staff nurse/midwives, more than 300 single trained midwives, 484 nursing assistants and some 65 medex trained as midwives.
In the purported quest to improve the quality of the nurses produced, Chief Medical Officer (CMO), Dr Shamdeo Persaud, informed this publication that moves have been made, for instance, to revise the professional nursing programme being offered.
He explained that moves to revise the professional nursing programme some four years ago entailed not only a modification to the curriculum, but there were also some changes made in the examination procedures; the kinds of areas to be tested and the marking system.
In fact, Dr Persaud disclosed that the previous marking system was based on a pass mark of 50 per cent, but the recommendation for the existing curriculum requires that students secure a pass mark of at least 60 per cent. Obtaining this percentage was expected of the students who were admitted to the programme, some three years ago.
According to the CMO, in its current form the examination is adjudged in three areas: functional nursing, clinical nursing (both of which have two segments) and a practical aspect as well.
The revision to the curriculum was touted as the primary reason for a daunting failure rate among students who participated in the Professional Nursing Programme last year. However, Dr Persaud noted that the result of the examination is likely to prompt further amendments to the programme with a view of addressing the state of affairs.

Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Shamdeo Persaud

This publication was reliably informed that more than 100 nursing students from the Georgetown School of Nursing undertook the examination in October of last year, but a mere 19 were successful. However, according to Dr Persaud, this situation was not unique to the city institution as it was evident to some extent at the other nursing schools.
There are currently three Government-operated nursing schools – Georgetown, New Amsterdam and Charles Roza – and another operated by the St. Joseph Mercy Hospital.
Without giving the precise pass or failing rate per institution, Dr Persaud said that based on available statistics, a total of 23 of the 276 who wrote the examination failed “outright” while those who passed “outright” amounted to 31.