Invest in nurses

WITHOUT nurses, there is no healthcare. Public hospitals, private clinics, community health centres, and a range of specialised medical units need them.

Some estimates suggest 10,000 nurses are required in the country. Yet, the average complement was, at one stage, at least 6,000. Rapid turnover and migration may have reduced it further. Given all this, it is disturbing to hear from National Nursing Association head Idi Stuart that TT nursing students have the worst failure rate in the regional nurse registration examination.

“More than 50 per cent,” Mr Stuart said on May 13 at the opening of the National Nurses Credit Union Co-operative Society in Curepe. “That is causing a big problem.”

That problem is a significant threat to the quality of care received by citizens and jeopardises health outcomes for the hundreds of thousands who need medical intervention.

Making Mr Stuart’s disclosure particularly sad is the fact that midwives and nurses from this country – and the wider Caribbean more generally – have long been regarded as world-class. Recruitment drives and head-hunting exercises are not uncommon here. In countries like the UK, since the Windrush Generation, personnel from this region have contributed to the national healthcare system. A Trinidadian midwife even delivered children of Prince William and Princess Catherine.

The head of the nursing association believes a key cause of this fall from grace relates to the withdrawal of stipends that play a role in helping students study. The government should investigate that. But the deeper issue is the need for a more meaningful policy of education support for areas vital to the country.

Having fewer nurses qualify just adds more pressure to those who have already passed. Burnout is real. There is no minimum nurse-to-patient ratio. Archaic hospital rules still apply. In this country, a nurse cannot initially place an IV or intravenous injection, even though they may push through some medicines. The Nursing Personnel Act must be modernised. There have been legal disputes over regulatory councils.

In its general election campaign, the UNC promised to settle pay negotiations for nurses, fund specialist training and to increase the number of local staff by focusing on training and certification. These promises should be kept.

Minister of Health Dr Lackram Bodoe has already signalled a willingness to increase the complement of nurses, whether local or foreign. But Donald Trump’s attitude to Cuban medics may complicate this. Certainly, the high failure rate needs to be added to the long list of issues to be considered by the minister.

Given how many patients already complain about the quality of care by some nurses, who are overwhelmed, there is no room for any fall in standards.