Nurses are indispensable to our country

arbados’ health care system is again facing a major deficit of trained nurses, and government has announced plans to boost the local complement of nurses even as it heads to the African continent to lure more Ghanaian nurses.

Countries like Ghana and Nigeria appear to be emphasising the training and export of health care workers as the island has been tapping those markets as a likely source for nurses.

Ironically, it was Barbadian nurses who were heading off to Britain during the Windrush period to satisfy the UK’s need to rebuild and expand its economy following World War II.

While the profession continues to haemorrhage in Barbados and across the region, the island’s continued shift towards a demographic that is increasingly old, it is important that policy decisions regarding the health care sector be anchored in this reality.

There have been many suggestions on possible national approaches to addressing the nurse. We believe that given the seriousness of the situation, serious consideration should be given to the proposals.

We concede that Barbados is not alone in its challenge to keep and expand its cadre of nurses, as larger economies in North America and Europe continue to cream off our most experienced and knowledgeable nurses with the lure of high salaries and better conditions of work.

In the United States, where there are approximately 4.7 million registered nurses and more than 385,000 nurse practitioners, the numbers are still not enough to satisfy the needs of the world’s largest economy.

The profession was badly affected during the devastating COVID-19 pandemic when many health care workers died from the disease, and others left the profession or retired early as the strain of the pandemic affected their mental health.

A Rockhurst University article earlier this year pointed out that “A more detailed analysis points to a shortfall due to the strain from an aging population needing more care for chronic conditions, workforce cutbacks and the rate of retiring nurses outpacing new ones entering the field.”

Though there are projections of a six percent growth, it has been advised that authorities there “ensure enough new nurses are interested in the career, adequate and affordable degree programmes are accessible, and suitable educators are available to teach a new generation of nursing professionals”.

In her address last weekend at a Barbados Labour Party meeting at St Christopher Primary School, Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley highlighted the nurse shortage. She said Cabinet agreed that “a team of six will go to Ghana yet again, to be able to allow us to bring in 112 nurses from there”.

In her address she noted: “I have agreed also to create in the nursing department, 142 registered nurses, 71 this year and 71 next year, to fill vacancies and increase the number of posts to ensure we have a better nursing ratio.”

While these can be regarded as temporary fixes, unless there is a comprehensive, long-term plan of action, Barbados will be constantly poaching African nurses, many of whom reportedly head to North America and Europe just like the Barbadian nurses, seeking better opportunities.

Even with the tight fiscal space of the administration, matters relating the health and education ought to remain top priorities.

Therefore, greater resources should be directed to the training and incentivising of both men and women to choose nursing as a profession. A campaign in our secondary schools to direct students in this area of study can be one of the approaches, shored up by an expanded and generously funded Nursing School programme at the Barbados Community College.

It is time to elevate the status of nursing among the professional classes in Barbados. Local nurses need to be paid well and receive remuneration that is so attractive that they are not tempted by foreign recruiters.

Most importantly, the profession of nursing must be respected. It was not that long ago that Barbadians were banging pots, giving healthcare workers priority shopping in supermarkets and discounts as they appreciated the value of these men and women.

As a consequence, local nurses should not be made to feel as though they are disposable items to be replaced by African recruits or made to protest in the streets for higher wages and better conditions.

The island is in the process of constructing a massive, multi-million-dollar geriatric hospital and it will require significant numbers of trained staff to provide quality care to our growing elderly population.

There is talk of expansion of the Queen Elizabeth Hospital as well as the establishment of several privately operated healthcare facilities that also require skilled individuals. This, therefore, requires an urgent, national response.