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The Health Sector – The Value of Nurses

Apr 02, 2022 Letters

Dear Editor

Interested parties must have been paying attention to the more recent pontifications about ‘Human Development’, among which have been those concerning the impact on the population’s health by the current pandemic and its indeterminable future. It is in this connection that one noted the Minister of Health recently bemoaning the rate of migration of ‘nurses’ from the Public Health Sector. There was no specific indication of how this critical human resources deficit would be addressed.
It is in this context that it is worth examining the ‘Nursing’ capacity reflected in the Budget 2022. The following shows the Categories and Grades of Nursing Staff within the Public Service 14 Grade Job Hierarchy – Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation:
Administrative – Matron – Grade 11
Senior Technical – Department Sister; Ward Sister; Nurse/Midwife – Grades 10-7
Other Technical & Craft Skilled – Staff Nurse; Midwife – Grades 6-5
Semi-skilled Operatives & Unskilled – Nursing Assistant; Nurse Aide – Grades 4-2
Ministry of Health:
Administrative – Chief Nursing Officer; Nursing Officer; Deputy Chief Nursing Officer; Principal Nursing Officer – Grades 12-11
Senior Technical – Maternal and Child Health Officer; Senior Health Visitor; Coordinator, Medex Programme; Health Visitor; Nursing Tutor; Senior Medex – Grades 12-8
Other Technical & Craft Skilled – Dental Nurse Tutor; Staff Nurse/Midwife; Staff Nurse; Midwife – Grades 8-5
Semi-skilled Operatives & Unskilled – Nursing Assistant; Health Care Attendant; Nurse Aide; Patient Care Assistant – Grades 4-2
The following distribution of skills and competencies in GPHC might be useful: Administrative -75; Senior Technical – 788; Other Technical & Craft Skilled – 1026; Semi-skilled Operatives & Unskilled – 1428– 43% of a total of 3317 employees.
It is against the aforementioned that one ponders on:
a) Health Minister’s recent reference to the perceptible migration of ‘Nurses’. There has to be some specific count and an identified period over which the loss occurred.
b) The projected number of hospitals to be established across Regions; and
c) The optimism in the most recent announcement of the introduction of the following:
– Community Health Training Course
– Pharmacy Aid(e) Course/s
– Laboratory Aid(e) Course/s
– Bio-medical Technician Course, and
– ‘Nursing Courses’ – a somewhat vague terminology which offers little indication of the level of competencies to be provided that could fill the deficit in skills of migrant ‘Nurses’; along with the reported human resources needs of the hinterland Regions.
Hopefully, the periodicity and the levels of graduated capacity would be announced very early, so that prospective trainees can understand: a) the level of job for which they will qualify; b) the applicable remuneration and other conditions of employment; in order to make decisions about careers – in the fundamental context of their personal development. In other words, would the employer institution be so organised that they can grow (and in the process) set positive examples for their progeny.
The above apart, it is not enough to speak of ‘training’ almost in a vacuum. It is necessary for the decision-makers to require their professional resources to conduct the most comprehensive analysis of skill needs across the health sector, in order to inform the construction of at least a five year human resources development strategy, aimed, amongst other things, at ensuring a healthy rate of retention – to save lives.
Hopefully by now, the case would have been made for the review of the respective values of jobs in the Health Sector, as distinctly technical from the rest of the Public Service. In the process, opportunity must be taken to at least reduce the disproportionate number of ‘semi-skilled and unskilled operatives’ who are too loosely included as ‘Nurses’ if only for public consumption.

Regards
E.B. John
Organisational Development and
Human Resources Management Advisor

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