NURSES ARE HEALTH CARE professionals who take care of individuals, families, and communities so they may attain, maintain, or recover optimal health.
A nurse is there to travel with the patient on the journey back to good health. And realistically, in some cases, they are there to assist the dying, in their last moments.
They play a pivotal role in the country’s health care system. But according to their voice and today’s WEDNESDAY WOMAN, nurses are not getting the respect they deserve.
President of the Barbados Nurses Association (BNA), Blondelle Mullin, says those involved in one of the oldest professions, feel as though they are not appreciated, especially by some of those they care for.
“Right now, nursing is a very challenging job,” Mullin said. “People must appreciate that nurses are human and that they need people to show them that they care about what they do. I don’t know if it is just Barbadian culture that we don’t accept and appreciate what we have.
“You would get that institutions outside of Barbados want our nurses because they like Barbadian-trained nurses and it’s no secret that Barbadian nurses are wanted around the world.
“But, here, everybody always complain for nurses and don’t give nurses what they deserve. The general public is always saying that our nurses don’t do enough and that they are not up to standards. But if they only knew what happens outside of Barbados . . . .”
Mullin, 55, said she was in her 35th year in a profession which she suggested chose her.
Currently assigned to the St John outpatient polyclinic as a Public Health Sister, specializing as a diabetic and asthma educator, Mullin said she has observed that some patients, particularly those who have lifestyle illnesses, just wanted nurses to do everything for them.
“They don’t realize that we are teaching them how to do for themselves,” she said. “When it comes to lifestyle diseases, some of them can be managed. So a nurse would encourage such a patient to take care of themselves, watch their diet.
“But because we tell you to do these things, you’re going to complain that we don’t want to do them. But if we teach you to help yourself, when you go home you can help yourself,” said the mother of a daughter who is an aspiring medical practitioner.
The Registered General Nurse, midwife, critical care nurse and community health nurse, who holds a diploma in Public Health Administration from the Barbados Community College (BCC) was smiling, as she noted “there are some patients who give me the courage go on every day. Those patients are my heartbeat.”
“The best feeling is when my patients come back or meet me on the road. Sometimes, you don’t even remember them but you get lots of satisfaction. Some of them you remember when they were ill and what you did for them.
“You see them now and you get a refreshing feeling. Sometimes, my husband and my daughter are amused at how my patients call me at home to ask a question or to say thank you.”
As for the BNA, which caters to the needs of nurses, Mullin, who took over presidency last year from Paulette Drakes, would like to see more active younger nurses joining the association which is celebrating Nurses Week that began Sunday with a church service at First?Baptist Church, Constitution?Road, St Michael.
The former executive member who also served as treasurer and floor member in the BNA which she join from the beginning of her nursing career in 1979, assured the MIDWEEK NATION that she has already started her drive.
“We need younger nurses to get onboard and help us do the things that have to be done in the association. The association is very important for a nurse’s development.
“If you are doing a course at BCC or the university, we give you a book allowance towards purchasing your books. You automatically become a member of the Congress of Trade Unions and Staff Associations. You get educational opportunities.”
