Health Ministry working with Caricom to adopt regional standard for nurses

Georgetown, GINA, February 21, 2014

 

There are serious consideration being given to have Guyana adapt its nurse training facilities and examinations to meet a standard regional requirement. This was revealed to the Government Information Agency (GINA) by Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Dr. Shamdeo Persaud following a recently concluded three- day meeting by the Regional Nursing Body (RNB).

On Thursday, the RNB members paid a courtesy call on President Donald Ramotar at the Office of the President, in the company of Health Minister Dr Bheri Ramsaran and the CMO.

The Caricom based group, comprised of Chief Medical Nurses, who are executives of the RNB, from regional territories, recently met at the Caricom headquarters to discuss the measures needed for the proposed move to have locally trained nurses trained and prepared to a regional standard.

President Donald Ramotar, Health Minister Dr Bheri Ramsaran and Chief Medical Officer Dr Shamdeo Persaud with the Caricom based Regional Nursing Body

According to the CMO, these measures include “the building of capacity in terms of trainers, accreditation for training schools, facilities, and teaching curriculum. Once these measures are implemented, the Guyana Nursing Examination will be adopted to suit the requirements of the regional standards.

The Regional Examination for Nurse Registration commonly known as the RENR, will see the Caribbean Examination Council (CXC) joining with the RNB, to not only assess the grades of potential nurses when they sit their final exams, but also to build local capacity within the ranks of local trainers and medical professionals who will be called upon to help with the assessments.

These moves are part of effort by the Health Ministry to boost the standard of nurses trained locally and will assist regional efforts at ensuring that all Caricom based nurses attain one internationally accepted standard before practicing their profession.