NEWS RELEASE
May 14, 2003
Caribbean Nurses to launch a Year of Celebration in May
May 2003 to August 2004 has been declared the Year of the Caribbean Nurse in celebration of nursing and nurses. The declaration was made by the Caribbean Nurses Organization (CNO) and the Regional Nursing Body (RNB) who are collaborating with national associations in the Dutch, French, English and Spanish-speaking countries to mount a year-long programme of activities profiling the role and achievements of nurses in the region.
Describing the initiative as “a model for other regions throughout the world,” the CNO President Delores Gumbs said that “this is an example of what vision and commitment to the wellbeing of people and partnerships that cross boundaries can achieve.”
The initiative is aimed at increasing recruitment and retention of nurses; strengthening nursing and midwifery services; and recognizing the best of nursing and nurses in the region. “I cannot overstate the significance or potential that the Year of the Caribbean Nurse holds for all people in the region,” said the RNB Chairperson Marjorie Parkes. “Nurses bring hope, healing and health – the profession provides economic opportunity through the work that it does and through the opportunities that it affords to its members,” she affirmed.
The celebration has as its theme Nurses Lighting the Way to Professional Excellence, and will be launched in St. Kitts by Prime Minister Dr. Denzil Douglas at a gala function enhanced by a Johnson and Johnson audiovisual production billed as a Salute to Nurses. Johnson and Johnson is one of several partners collaborating with the nurses in the year-long programme of activities. Commenting on the range of collaborators on the initiative, the CNO President said that the initiative “holds the promise that comes only from true partnerships across public, private and voluntary sectors brought together by the important purpose of advancing the health of the people of the Caribbean.”
Other agencies and organizations collaborating with the regional and national bodies are the Caribbean Program Coordination (CPC) office of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), the Lillian Carter Centre for International Nursing (LCCIN), and the Department of Advanced Nursing Education (DANE), University of the West Indies (UWI). The Johnson and Johnson production comprises a five minute video and two Public Service Announcements produced in the Caribbean featuring nurses at work. In a statement endorsing the initiative a Johnson and Johnson spokesperson said that they believe that nursing “is the essence of caring.”
During the year, two countries will host special events each month highlighting the celebrations. In addition, every nurse returning home to the Caribbean will receive an official welcome on arrival involving media coverage, and a visit to the headquarters of the national association. The development aspect of the celebrations will target six critical areas related to concerns about migration. Migration of nurses is widely regarded as a problem in the countries of the Caribbean. The six areas targeted are recruitment and retention; terms and conditions of work; education and training; utilization and deployment, value of nursing; management practices; policy and HSR. St Vincent will host the RNB Annual General Meeting from May 25-29. This is expected to be attended by the Chief Nursing Officers from 16 Caribbean countries.
Another feature of the celebration is the production of a Caribbean nursing symbol in the form of a lighted lamp set against a backdrop of flags representing all the countries of the region. The symbol will be passed from one country to the other until the celebration culminates in Curacao in August 2004, at a biennial meeting to be attended by more than 400 nurses from the Dutch, French, English and Spanish Caribbean countries, in addition to representatives from several extra-regional and international organizations. The LCCIN representative lauded the region’s nurses leadership for the effort, stating that, “ the initiative is a fitting tribute to their remarkable leadership, and the bright future envisaged through their efforts.”
The President of the Barbados Nursing Association, and Chairman of the CNO Professional Development/Education, Marion Howard, described the celebration as a watershed moment in the history of nursing in the region, adding that every Caribbean country is poised to celebrate nurses and nursing in their own special way. “This will be a wonderful opportunity for our nurses throughout the region to showcase our achievements and highlight our challenges, she said.