Nursing resilience takes center stage at 53rd regional meeting in Guyana

Members of the nursing profession have been lauded for their resilience and leadership in the face of the ongoing and emerging pressures and challenges.

The commendations were made during the opening of the 53rd Meeting of the Regional Nursing Body (RNB) which began in Georgetown, Guyana on Monday, 3 August.

“We meet at a defining moment. Across the Caribbean, our health systems face pressures evolving faster than our capacity to absorb them: workforce shortages, migration, demographic change, the rising burden of chronic disease and the growing frequency of natural disasters. Yet against all of it stands one unwavering constant: the resilience and the leadership of the nurses and midwives of this Region,” Chair of the Meeting, Annastacia Jordan, Chief Nursing Officer of Barbados, said in her remarks.

She expressed pleasure  at the heightened level of visibility the profession is receiving, noting “the voices of nurses and midwives are now heard at the tables where major decisions are made and are recognized, not simply as providers of care, but as leaders, researchers and architects of health system transformation.”

She recognised the support and solidarity “within our regional family” in times of natural disasters and emergencies, as well as the strong partnerships that have been forged to support the work of the RNB.

In her remarks at the opening, Director, Human Development at the CARICOM Secretariat, Helen Royer, also spoke of the value of nurses and midwives, who constitute the largest component of the health workforce globally. She hailed their essential role as caregivers, but also pointed to their roles as leaders, educators, researchers, innovators, and advocates.

“Their expertise is critical to health policy development, health service delivery, and achievement of better health outcomes for our people,” she said.

Ms. Royer also acknowledged the significant strides the RNB has made over the years but called for greater emphasis to be placed on implementation.

“Good policies, sound recommendations, and well-crafted strategic plans can only make a difference when they are translated into action. Our collective responsibility, therefore, is to ensure that the outcomes of this meeting are practical, measurable, and capable of advancing nursing and midwifery at both the regional and national levels,” she said.

Among the items the RNB will discuss over the next five days are strengthening the regulatory capacity of nursing and midwifery councils in CARICOM; the development of guidelines to define nurse to patient ratios, and midwife to patient ratios; and harmonising midwifery education, training and regulation in the Community.

Participants will also deliberate on partnerships, the future of nursing and nursing leadership in the CARICOM; matters related to education standards in the nursing profession; disaster preparedness and response under the theme  “Bridging Divides, Driving Reform: Caribbean Nursing and Midwifery at the Forefront of Change.”

The 53^rd Meeting will end on Friday, 7 August.