Care for the carers: A national imperative

As Barbados joins the global celebration of Nurses Week, we owe more than just words of thanks to the men and women who care for our nation. We owe them meaningful change. A seismic shift in how we treat the mental, emotional, and physical well-being of our nurses—and other frontline professionals—is needed.

The Barbados Nurses Association has long pointed to the warning signs: emotional exhaustion, physical burnout, rising absenteeism, and a steady departure of skilled professionals who can no longer bear the burden in silence.

Nurse consultant and self-care advocate Kathleen Brathwaite has added her voice to the growing chorus of concern, calling for workplace wellness programmes, trauma-informed policies, and a radical rethink of how Barbados supports its caregiving workforce. Her message echoes global concerns. From hospitals to police departments, schools to emergency services, workers in high-stress professions are under immense strain.

But what separates successful systems from crumbling ones is the willingness to act early, deliberately, and with courage.

Countries such as the United Kingdom, Canada, and New Zealand have begun implementing systemic solutions to reduce burnout and strengthen mental health support for nurses and carers. Barbados would do well to take note.

For instance, several healthcare systems, including in Australia and parts of the United States, now offer designated mental health days separate from sick leave. These allow nurses and carers to decompress before reaching crisis point. Such policies acknowledge that mental wellness is as important as physical health.

The UK’s National Health Service has rolled out “Wellbeing Guardians” and structured peer-support programmes in many hospitals. These offer confidential spaces for staff to discuss emotional trauma, decompress after difficult cases, and receive professional guidance without stigma.

In Japan and Finland, strong workplace regulations ensure mandatory rest breaks for nurses and medical staff, recognising that consistent overwork compromises safety. Barbados, too, must formalise protected time for rest—during and between shifts—if we are to preserve both staff health and patient outcomes.

Flexible work arrangements are also gaining traction internationally. In countries like Sweden and Denmark, four-day work weeks, reduced hours, and job-sharing help prevent overload.

New Zealand has also embedded access to mental health professionals into its public health infrastructure, offering routine, free therapy sessions for nurses and other high-risk staff. Barbados should follow suit—embedding mental health professionals within hospitals and clinics, not just for patients, but for the caregivers as well.

While money is not a solution to burnout, recognition of the emotional weight of such work is a start. The province of Quebec in Canada, for example, has introduced additional compensation for workers in caregiving roles that are emotionally taxing. Barbados must review its compensation model to acknowledge not just time worked, but stress endured.

At home, there is a culture that still sees self-care as weakness. In many caregiving professions—especially those dominated by women—overwork is glorified. Self-sacrifice is expected. The result? Staff who show up in body, but not in spirit. A workforce that is surviving, not thriving.

The fallout is not limited to professionals. Patient outcomes suffer. Public confidence erodes. Families feel the strain. If we continue to treat burnout as the price of professionalism, we will soon pay an even greater cost: the collapse of the caregiving systems we so heavily rely on.

The solution cannot rest on individual resilience alone. Nurses and carers cannot yoga their way out of burnout. While personal self-care strategies like those Brathwaite outlines—such as micro-boundaries and intentional nourishment—are important, they must be backed by institutional accountability and meaningful investment.

We urge the Ministry of Health and Wellness, the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Board, the Ministry of the Public Service, and other key stakeholders to act now. Conduct workplace wellness audits. Fund institutional self-care programmes. Make counselling and mental health resources accessible and consistent. Enshrine mandatory rest periods and provide protected mental health days. Partner with unions to develop flexible scheduling that does not penalise those who need time to recharge.

Let us be clear: investing in caregiver wellbeing is not an act of charity. It is a strategic move to protect our national health infrastructure. When nurses and other essential professionals are well, society functions better.

As we honour our nurses this week, let us go beyond platitudes. Let us offer protection, not just praise. Let us ensure that “care for the carers” is more than a slogan—it becomes law, policy, and practice.

Let’s build a Barbados where frontline workers are not sacrificed at the altar of duty, but supported in their most vital role.