During their extended protests against the public wage cut and for good governance, the joint unions had the support of the Nurses Association of Belize.
And tonight, the Association is back, speaking out against the Government and the Minister of Health and Wellness. In fact, the nurses say that Health Minister Michel Chebat made, quote, "disrespectful comments… in his address of the nursing shortage condition in which the profession finds itself." End quote.
The nurses are referring to the Minister's most recent media appearance in which he discussed the impending exodus of a group of nurses from the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital's staff. News broke several days ago, that about 25 of them are about to pursue opportunities outside of Belize.
In their press release from today, the nurses assert that while they can agree with the view that there is a shortage of qualified nurses worldwide, and in Belize specifically, they don't think that a plan of hiring international nurses to meet the demand is a viable, long-term solution.
The association then takes a hard-line stance against the government by suggesting that the ministry, quote, "insists on dragging its feet on the amendment of the Nursing Care Act, and both political parties have refused to increase the number of available posts for the hiring of nurses across the country." End quote.
The Association adds that the "ill-fated" public sector wage cut will have a negative impact on the profession because it will encourage more practitioners to exit a public healthcare system that is already overwhelmed and under-staffed.
This afternoon, we spoke via Zoom with the President of the Association about these strong views:
Darrell Spencer - President, Nurses Association "There's a discussion happening in this country for years, where there are quite a bit of nurses who are in this country, looking for a job. But - for argument's sake, we'll say Orange Walk 20 posts for a registered nurse from 1990. Those posts have not been increased. So, we have a lot of stuff that comes through. They come out from school, and by the time the ministry comes around to give them a job, they are frustrated, they go into private [practice], or go abroad. The government needs to get into a serious discussion on increasing the number of available posts. You're a young nurse coming out, and some of them, by the time they get a job, they have worked 5 or 6 years on little one-year contracts, 6-months contracts. There are some nurses who are working 3-month contracts, for crying out loud, man. There has to be some discussion where it concerns the attraction of nurses to Belize, or the young nurses to practice nursing in Belize. And a second conversation has to be had about retaining nurses because we lose nurses. We constantly haemorrhage nurses. The amount of nurses we lose on an average year increases every time. The Minister is commenting now that 25 or so are going to leave Karl Heusner. While that is a fact, we need to know the truth behind these resignations. Quite a bit of these persons who come into the country use Belize as a stepping stone. We're glad to have them come and subsidize our nursing force, but we have to stop tolerating this, man. They come; they use Belize. They better themselves; they get experience, and then, they leave us behind, back in the same rut that was there when they [first] came."
In their press release from today, the nurses say, quote, "The Nurses' Association of Belize remains ready to dialogue with the ministry on a proper way forward." End quote.
