Following the A Partnership for National Unity + Alliance for Change (APNU+AFC)’s objection to the termination of programmes at the Charles Rosa School of Nursing in Linden, Region 10, the government has sought to justify its decision.
The APNU+AFC, yesterday, issued a statement saying it was horrified and alarmed by the government’s “reckless and irresponsible decision” to terminate the Registered Nurse (RN) and Nurse Assistant (NA) programs at the institution.
It said no proper explanation was proffered.
At a time when the COVID-19 pandemic is wreaking havoc in Guyana with skyrocketing cases and a disturbing surge in deaths, frontline workers, especially nurses, are desperately needed, the coalition said. The party subsequently called for the immediate restoration of the programmes.
The Health Minister earlier last evening, said that it “temporary suspended” Batch#66 and Class #17 of the nursing programmes.
It said that the school, funded by the taxpayers of Guyana, is intended to train all eligible Guyanese who are desirous of pursuing a career in nursing. But, over the years, the school has trained persons mostly from Region 10, while persons from other regions such as 1,7,8 and 9 were given “nominal” placements.
It added that in 2018, there were intakes of two batches of Professional Nursing students, Batch #64 and Batch #65. With Batch #64, there was an intake of 36 students for the Professional Nursing Programme, with 29 students from Region 10. All students from this Batch will be graduating in 2021. With Batch # 65, there was 27 Nursing Professional students with 22 students from Region 10. This Batch will be graduating in 2022. Between these two batches, an additional 51 nurses will be added to the staff of Region 10.
A recent review of nursing personnel for all regions shows that Region 10 is the only region with an excess of 233 registered nurses and 106 registered nursing assistants. All other regions have deficits for trained nursing staff, the Ministry said.
It noted that many of the regions with deficit staff have identified eligible students for training at the Charles Rosa Nursing School. However, these students were excluded once again. Of an intake for Batch # 66, of 34 students, 24 are from Region 10. And for Registered Nursing Assistants (RNA) Class 17, which has an intake of 33 students with 21 are from Region 10. These two programmes, Batch #66 and Class 17, have been temporary suspended to ensure that the intake of students reflect the Regions where the Ministry of Health (MOH) have the greatest need for nurses.
“The Ministry of Health (MOH) is urging the APNU/AFC to stop peddling misinformation and seeking to politicize the situation. If the APNU/AFC had addressed the structural discrimination at the Charles Rosa Nursing School during its tenure, then students from Region 1,7,8 and 9 would have had equitable access. The Ministry of Health would like to assure all Guyanese that it would take the necessary corrective actions to ensure all the eligible students from the regions will be granted access to the Charles Rosa Nursing School training programmes.”
The Ministry said that it will review Batch #66 and Class 17 to balance the intake before classes can restart.
“We are confident that all right thinking and fair minded Guyanese will agree with this approach,” the Ministry concluded.
