Given the public health emergency caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, President of the Barbados Nurses Association (BNA) Joannah Waterman fully understands the Queen Elizabeth Hospital’s need to expand its pool of back-up staff.
However, she has cautioned that the retired registered nurses and nursing assistants being sought are part of the vulnerable population.
“In this environment so much is happening so quickly, and the essential fundamental thing is that they need to manage the patients. So how are they going to do that? They have to pull in a pool from outside.
“The only thing I would say in caution about that is our retired nurses are in the vulnerable population. So that could present a problem in terms of their willingness to come forward knowing that they are in a more vulnerable age group,” she explained.
“But I understand the need to pull in a pool from outside – sources from wherever you can get them – because it is really a dire emergency now for continuity of care.”
The nurses on the frontline at the island’s lone public hospital are under extreme strain, according to Waterman. She said this is a national public health emergency, none like they have ever seen before, and nurses are fearing for their lives.
“And of course, they are all emotional and it is very understandable. They are human and despite knowledge of the science, when you are fearing for your life you are afraid, and it is something unprecedented, and the science is still being developed.
“Not only that, but the long hours you have to work now and the fact that you are not looking forward to a holiday or a real relief, then that adds to the situation,” she said.
The BNA President added that the QEH has done an excellent job in providing counselling services for the nurses. She also recalled that the QEH’s management about four weeks ago met with the Association to thoroughly lay out the strategic plan for the second wave of pandemic.
“Which is this period, where we have the increasing spread and the spikes and now we know officially that it is community spread, but I knew that ever since,” she pointed out.
“In that strategic plan are all sorts of areas related to voluntary testing, if our nurses or health care workers are uncertain, suspicious, worried that they might have come in contact, there is available testing for them. There is also the psychological and counselling services being made available. So it was a very comprehensive plan that they rolled out to us.
“How it would be taken up on the ground by our nurses and health care workers, I am not sure. But I can just tell you what was rolled out and we conveyed it to our nurses, and they are aware that this is available to them,” Waterman added.
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