The Thirty-first Annual General Meeting of the Regional Nursing Body (RNB) concluded yesterday, 27 May 2004, in Paramaribo, Suriname.
At the Opening Ceremony of the four-day meeting, Dr. the Hon. Rakieb Mohammed Khudabux, Minister of Health, Suriname, gave the keynote address. In his address, the Minister congratulated the RNB on its many achievements over the years, and observed that the nursing profession was faced with many challenges. Notwithstanding, the Minister said, “nursing leaders must be able to operate in the corporate environment of changing health systems. They must adopt a business approach towards health care and have the ability to network with various disciplines and be indeed advocates and change agents”.
The Minister challenged the meeting to reflect on the direction of nursing, and in so doing, to focus on consumer care. “The delivery of health care is a multifaceted affair. The human interaction between nurses and clients or patients, between administration and public are some of the issues, which cannot be ignored”, he continued.
Agenda items discussed included: migration of nurses and its management, education, standards and practice within the context of the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME). Repositioning nursing education within tertiary educational institutions, accreditation and licensure were identified as key strategies for preparing and positioning Caribbean nurses to compete in the global market place but more critically, for free movement within the Region.
The final day of the meeting was dedicated to Continuing Education for Nurses under the theme “Nurses Lighting the Way to Professional Excellence”. Highlights of the Education Day were presentations by Dr. Hermi Hewett, Head of the Department of Advanced Nursing Education, University of the West Indies, Mona Campus, and Ms. Angele Kumbangsila, Secretary of the Suriname Nurses Association. Dr. Hewitt's presentation on “Clinical Career Ladder” charted a course for improving clinical care, job satisfaction and retention of nurses in the Region while Ms. Kumbangsila's captured Suriname's celebration of the “Year of the Caribbean Nurse”.
Delegates and participants were hosted by the Suriname Nurses Association to a cultural evening of song and dance performed by the Indigenous, Hindustani and African people.
The meeting was attended by Chief Nursing Officers from 13 Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Member and Associate Member States, the Caribbean Nurses Organisations and representatives of the CARICOM Secretariat and the Universities of Guyana and the West Indies.
Mr. Mitchell Clarke, the representative from Barbados was elected Chair for the coming business year, 2004-2005; while Mrs. Hedy Heymans-Soeters of Suriname was voted Vice Chair. Mr. Clarke will be the first male to chair this Body since its establishment in Guyana, in 1972.
