Nursing tutors trained to effect new classroom teaching methods
GINA, GUYANA, Thursday, November 10, 2016
Local nursing tutors from nursing education institutions across Guyana recently completed one year of training through partnership with the Pan American Health Organisation/World Health Organisation (PAHO/WHO) and the University of Miami.
Twenty-six (26) tutors last evening graduated with a Certificate in Nursing Education at a ceremony held at the Marriott hotel in Kingston. The Public Health Ministry will use the completion of the programme by the tutors as a stepping stone for creating more learning and training opportunities for nursing educators and tutors.
Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Public Health, Trevor Thomas said that tutors who benefitted from the programme should not look at the achievement as an opportunity to seek better jobs elsewhere, but to place more emphasis on giving back to their country.
The 26 tutors pose for a group photo with two of the lecturers from the Clinical University of Miami School of Nursing and Health Studies
“We expect that as a result of you achieving, accumulating these new skills that the (nursing) school(s) will ultimately benefit. Therefore what’s next must not merely be ‘I am now better positioned to go on to my Master’s degree’. I must hasten to say though we will explore every effort as a Ministry to ensure that our tutors, our educators are given every opportunity to realize, and to achieve their maximum potential.”
The learning programme commenced in November of 2015, having evolved after PAHO/WHO and the Health Sciences and Education Faculty of the Ministry of Public Health recognised that building the capacity of nursing educators will eventually lead to better health care delivery.
“There was a disconnect in what was being taught. Studies have been done to find out why nurses are failing at their practice, and this is good intervention,” Director of Health Sciences and Education, Wilton Benn pointed out.
Lecturers from the University of Miami, who facilitated the training, said that the participants showed determination, and worked hard to complete the programme.
Assistant Professor of the Clinical University of Miami School of Nursing and Health Studies, Dr. Deborah Selani said that, “We asked them to do something they might not have been comfortable with, we asked them to think outside the box, to do activities, technology, for some it was a little challenging, but everyone rose to the occasion and did a fabulous job.”
Dr. Selani further explained that, “It was a very rigorous programme, it is a graduate- level course, Master’s level expectations, and it consists of four courses and we use the hybrid model so the majority of the course work was done online, we meet every week in our virtual classroom.”
Trevor Thomas, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Public Health, delivering the feature address at the graduation of the Nursing Tutors
The courses were based on curriculum development, and teaching and learning philosophy among other topics.
Permanent Secretary Thomas added that, “If we are going to advance on our health agenda then we have to ensure that our human capital has the requisite skills knowledge and competencies to provide the health system with the resources to achieve our objectives.”
Health educators are required to be exposed to continuous training which will bring new developments, and teaching methods to the students in the classroom. Moreover, nurses will be able to get quality education from highly qualified and trained tutors.