There has been a tremendous response to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital’s (QEH) call for retired registered nurses and nursing assistants to return to the frontline.
Executive Chairman of the QEH Juliette Bynoe-Sutherland said within hours of an informal call being shared on social media on Sunday evening, people have been calling and sending messages inquiring about how they can make their services available.
Bynoe-Sutherland said she was pleased with the response at this time during the fluid COVID-19 pandemic, when the hospital is revealing plans to create a pool of at least 50 “back-up” nurses.
“The response is more than I could have anticipated. So many nurses, various categories of nurses have reached out wanting to give assistance. People are responding and we have not even put the formal notice out.
“Recognizing that the COVID-19 case numbers are increasing, what I want to create is a back-up pool of nurses, including retired and part-timers, who we can use to relieve the existing nursing complement to prevent burn-out and to provide them with additional support and resources.
“We have a seasonal pool of nurses which include retired and part-time nurses from the public/private sector, but we need to expand it because we are expecting to need to give this additional support,” Bynoe-Sutherland said.
In a Facebook post on Sunday, Bynoe-Sutherland also announced that the QEH has full-time vacancies for registered nurses, but would not be taking transfers of nurses from the psychiatric of geriatric hospitals, “as it leaves them terribly short”.
The Executive Chairman told Barbados TODAY that those who would be added to the hospital’s back-up pool will be paid for their services.
She said those who are successful at joining the team, will receive mandatory specialized training in the donning and doffing of personal protective equipment, the approaches involved in treatment and care, among other areas.
Bynoe-Sutherland said the nurses will also be allowed to choose which area they want to work in.
“This programme is going to be rolling, as people approach us we are going to create a pool. The situation is fluid.
“So we need to have this back-up pool so that if we need to call on those persons we have them available that we can call in and we are not finding ourselves scrambling for resources. These are not volunteers. They will be paid for their services,” the Executive Chairman said.
She further explained that retired nurses have a significant amount of experience. She added that once they are in good health and able to contribute, many are willing to give of their time to help their colleagues.
“Those who have conditions that prevent them from being able to give support in the ward are giving support in other ways, they are mentoring, and they are calling in giving advice. So we have a very dynamic group in the nursing profession and we benefit tremendously from the nurses that are retired,” she said. (anestahenry@barbadostoday.bb)
