Government is investing $14 million in training approximately 570 nurses for different sectors of the health system to combat a severe shortage of nursing personnel, says Science and Technology Minister Fazal Karim. He said yesterday's weekly Cabinet session had approved the move to train more nurses. He said Health Minister Fuad Khan had spoken about the severe nursing shortage.
As of July, Karim said, vacant posts in the nursing sector included 583 registered nurses, 378 registered nurses/midwives, 148 mid-wives and 1,094 enrolled nursing assistants. Karim said the current complement of nurses was being "stretched to the limit" to do all the required duties in the health sector.
The two-year training programme, which will alleviate some of the stress, starts next month. Cabinet approved a cost of $14.820 million, Karim said. He said the plan would involve the following:
• Basic nursing (200 students)
• Enrolled nursing assistants (200 students)
• Midwifery training (60 students)
• Direct-entry midwifery (30 students)
• Mental health nurses (60 students)
• Post-basic nursing education (20 students).
Cabinet also approved $1.5 million for the district health visitor programme, which would complement the nursing sector. He said the El Dorado nursing training facility also would be upgraded at a cost of $18.9 million and would be linked to UWI?and Costaatt. The El Dorado centre was almost ready to be opened, Karim added.