BNA: Govt pledges comprehensive safety review for nurses

Nurses in public healthcare are set to benefit from a comprehensive safety review across the system, following fresh commitments from the Ministry of Health to address longstanding concerns about workplace security, the Barbados Nurses Association (BNA) said Friday, declaring progress with the authorities on improving safety for nurses.

Plans include strengthening security at polyclinics and the hospital, and looking into panic buttons for staff, said BNA President Faye Parris. 

“BNA had a call from an organisation… who wanted to assist with having panic buttons,” she said, adding that there must first be a “comprehensive assessment so that we can put everything in place.”

A recent town hall meeting with the Ministry of Health was a step in the right direction, according to the BNA. 

“We were very grateful to the ministry for accommodating us and having a town hall meeting, and to be working to strengthen the shuttle service across the system,” Parris said. She added that the BNA is “working with the ministry to collate the information and strengthen that service across the system.”

Safety remains a top concern for nurses, Parris said, noting that after the meeting, the ministry agreed to a full safety review. 

“One of the things that came up at that town hall is that there’s going to be a comprehensive assessment that BNA has been calling for, for a while, of the institutions to assess all their safety needs and come up with a comprehensive plan,” she explained.

While welcoming the government’s response as “favourable”, Parris said “members felt that there could be more urgency when dealing with the matters”.

She was adamant that nurses should not have to work in fear, adding: “What I find we’ve been doing is being reactive… So it has to be collaborative, a joint effort… so that we can be proactive. I want us to be proactive because we can’t afford… a loss of life of a nurse.”

The BNA is also rolling out self-defence classes which are gaining in popularity. 

“We are facilitating defence classes for nurses and as well as we’re going to be doing webinars since the first webinars, and the defence classes are attracting a lot of persons,” Parris said. “We have quite a number of nurses who are signing up for these defence classes.” (LG)