Peggy Rickinson (left) received an award for her outstanding contribution to the BNA.
Sleeping giant, time to arise.
A call to action for nurses from one of their own, Shanette Brewster who was the 2016-2017 Eunice Gibson Award recipient, and whose comments were delivered on her behalf on Wednesday night at the Harcourt Lewis Training Centre. The lecture was hosted by the Barbados Nurses Association as part of the activities held to celebrate Founders’ Month.
She said since being named the recipient of the prestigious award, she examined the profession and critiqued areas where nurses need to be in a rapid and dynamic environment. She said she concluded that nurse practitioners and researchers are no longer crucial areas of nursing that can be ignored.
Brewster believes that trained nurses are underutilised in Barbados and could ease pressure in the island’s polyclinics and offer greater assistance in the care of the older population.
According to Brewster. “Why must it take 24 hours for a client to be cannulated [introduce a thin tube] if an intravenous becomes dislodged? Why must the older adult be seated for 72 hours in A & E before seen by a medical officer when nurses are qualified to perform the job are available?
The Chairman of Education and Training of the BNA Executive said with calls for nurse researcher being sounded again, the question to be asked is “Does our older adult receive the best care based on empirical evidence? Of course that is not a question that I need to ask as the complaints continue to increase.”
Saying she is aware that she may be stirring up the ant’s nest by sharing her view on the profession, she however urged members of the Barbados Nurses Association to act now for change.
“One of my lecturers asked the question in May 2017, when will the nurses, the sleeping giants, the largest health care professionals in Barbados arise and make a significant contribution to the decision-making and health policy in Barbados. I am willing to stand up.”
“Nurses’ expanded knowledge in all the specialities in Barbados are exceptionally wide and varied. We are closer to the community than any other health professional and can make profitable contribution in decision. We just need to learn how to present those thoughts effectively,” she stated.
Retired nurse and past president of the BNA Paulette Drakes, while commending Brewster’s comments, noted that during her time in the A&E she also expressed the need for nurses to be trained and for the powers that be to have confidence in their training. “If they would listen to us they would save money,” she said. (JH)