Health Minister proposes ‘Nursing Research Conference’

During an award ceremony held by the Nurses and Midwives Council of Guyana, Health Minister Dr. Frank Anthony spoke about the establishment of a nursing research conference aimed at improving healthcare delivery in Guyana.

Dr. Anthony emphasized the importance of ongoing nursing education and highlighted the need for research in nursing.

He explained that research in nursing is lacking and suggested that the research conference could address this gap.

“We don’t see research that relates to nursing, and it is not that material is not there, it is just that we don’t document it, we don’t talk about it and if it is that we can set up our own research conference to deal with nursing then that is something we can do,” Dr Anthony said.

The Minister encouraged nurses at the ceremony to take the lead in driving the conference, stating that it would enhance the quality of nursing practice and facilitate knowledge sharing.

He further explained that advancements in nursing practice would significantly impact healthcare in Guyana, positioning the country as a leader in the region.

“Very soon, a lot of what we will be doing, people from the surrounding countries would be looking to Guyana as the example,” he stated.

He also spoke about improvements in specialised nursing programmes.

“If we are going to provide better cardiac care, we need to have cardiac nurses, critical care, we need critical care nurses because we are going to be doing a lot of specialised care and therefore we need people to be able to offer these types of care,” the health minister said.

Meanwhile, a lot of the speakers on Tuesday, referenced better salary for nurses to which the health minister responded, “we are going to change that too, but it will take time.”

Additionally, Dr. Anthony outlined several initiatives to improve nursing education and health infrastructure in the country. These include the development of 13 new hospitals, the establishment of two more nursing schools in New Amsterdam and Essequibo and the refurbishing of all existing nursing schools.

Meanwhile, the award ceremony on Tuesday, held under the theme “Our Nurses, Our Future: The Economic Power of Care,” recognised nurses with over 30 years of service across Guyana. The ceremony was held as Nurses Week is being celebrated.

Head of the Nurses and Midwives Council, Dr. Nicola Nero during her remarks spoke about the invaluable contributions of nurses to healthcare, especially during the global pandemic.

“The world saw nurses and healthcare professionals respond to the global pandemic and didn’t give up. Thank you for your service, each of you found new innovative ways of thinking, advancing care and providing leadership that shaped the future of healthcare like never before,” Dr. Nero said.

Dr Nero who started working as a nursing aid, serves as inspiration to all nurses. On Tuesday, she reflected on her journey when she was accepted at the University of Guyana to study as a medical doctor but turned down the offer to elevate her nursing career instead.