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Minister Lawrence calls for an end to inequitable nursing
Minister Volda Lawrence addressing the nurses
Although nursing, from time immemorial, has been regarded as a noble and outstanding profession, there are some nurses who do not demonstrate a passion for what they do.
This observation was recently made by Minister of Public Health, Ms. Volda Lawrence, as she addressed nurses at the Department of Public Health’s Nurses Day Celebration recently held in Mahaica-Berbice.
At the event held under the theme: “Nurses a voice to lead – health is a human right”, the Minister was especially vocal about her perception of some practising nurses.
“It seems as though you are led to believe that you just happen to be there…it seems as though you are always under someone’s shadow, [but] you are a nurse and that is a profession you have chosen,” said Minister Lawrence.
Even as the Minister reminded her audience that nursing is a vocation they chose with the objective of lending support, she underscored the importance for them to ensure that their patients are comfortable and that they provide the utmost care and help to alleviate pain and suffering.
But according to the Public Health Minister, “the general impression from all quarters is that our nursing sector has a disconnect, and all we need to do is follow some of you on Facebook…”
The Minister shared her observation that “nurses seem to be operating differently as you move from one administrative region to the next. The service offered in some instances leaves much to be desired, and then when you go to another place the service offered is above board…so that is the disconnection that I am talking about.”
“Admittedly some of you are performing exceptionally well, some beyond the call of duty; some are striving to provide care and service of the highest quality while we have some who give us the impression ‘what come suh do’…”
But according to the Minister, under her tenure, “I can assure you this Minister will call ‘a spade a spade’ and everybody will be treated equally. What is good for the goose will be good for the gander,” asserted the Minister.
Nurses must help to transform the delivery of health care, Minister Lawrence asserts.
Minister Lawrence called on the nurses to collaborate to improve the delivery of service in the health care system.
“I need to ensure that if I am in Region Four and I stop at a health centre, the service I get there when I come to Region Five…I must get the same service. Irrespective of where I am in Guyana, the same service must be provided to our people.”
The Minister charged the nurses to not only embrace the profession but “be proud of your profession and do not be a shadow in any of the facilities that you are placed but rather I expect that you will stand out and stand-up…always be the best at what you are.”
She added, “Wherever we left those wonderful tenets of working and serving, we have to go back and find them. We have to bring those back so that just as how I am proud to be an accountant, I want you to be proud of being a nurse and more so I want you to stand out as a Guyanese as we have done for many, many years.”
As she stressed the importance of nurses, Lawrence amplified the pioneering role of Florence Nightingale in the profession. “I would like her and what she did to be your inspiration; I want you to capture the energy with which she toiled for those entrusted in her care, and transform that spirit of commitment and perseverance into building the momentum that will transcend all challenges and issues in order to transform and revolutionise the nursing fraternity in Guyana. In other words, I’m saying nurses you have what it takes but you don’t use what you have…”
Government, according to Minister Lawrence, has a mandate to ensure that the nation enjoys the benefits of a better health care system. Moreover, at the Ministry of Public Health it has long been recognised that nurses are the medium through which this vision must be pursued. “You are the bulwark upon which the whole health care system reposes; you are the ones who can make things happen so I call on you to step up, to restructure, to rebuild the system with renewed energy as you and I pursue the goals of achieving better health care for the people of Guyana,” urged Minister Lawrence.
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