Nurses - Situation Improving
11 December 2009
Following a recruitment campaign to attract registered nurses from abroad to work within the General Hospital on St Helena, two nurses from Zimbabwe have recently joined the team.
Ms Anna Colletta Chiduku and Mrs Blessing Phiri have been engaged as Staff Nurses on one year contracts. Both ladies have extensive experience in general nursing and have worked in large hospitals in Zimbabwe prior to travelling to St Helena.
In addition, Ms Marion Cutler, who first joined the team from the UK in August last year on a one year contract, has recently returned from overseas leave having agreed to continue working with the nursing team for another year. Marion has a wealth of experience in general nursing and is also a qualified midwife and as such, will play an active role in midwifery duties whilst working with us. A third Zimbabwean nurse, who is also a qualified midwife, will hopefully join the hospital nursing team within the next few weeks.
To complement overseas recruitment, the Public Health and Social Services Department has during this year, been successful in attracting and employing three former nurses to its ‘Return to Practice’ scheme. This scheme is open to qualified nurses who have worked outside of the nursing field for more than five years and wish to resume their nursing careers. Participation in a twelve week ‘refresher’ course is required to update nursing skills and during this time, the returnees are assessed on performance and aptitude. Thereafter, they are able to apply for appointment to vacant nursing posts.
The department has recently promoted 4 Nursing Assistants in the General Hospital to the posts of Senior Nursing Assistants. Ms Ursula Henry, Ms Rosemary Stevens, Mrs Mavis Benjamin and Mrs Cynthia Fowler have all completed NVQs Level 2 in Health and Social Care, which enabled them to apply for the Senior Nursing Assistant posts. These post holders provide extremely valuable support to the qualified nursing staff and contribute towards ensuring the smooth running of all hospital services.
In September of this year, the hospital workforce was further strengthened by 2 newly qualified nurses, namely Miss Sarah Newman and Miss Charmaine Thomas. Both have settled into their new role and are enjoying the challenge.
The nursing service will hopefully be further boosted next year when two current third year student nurse complete their studies and are able to join the service. This year’s recruitment of student nurses was the most successful for some years, with 6 student nurses being appointed in September to the three year course of study.
Public Health and Social Services Department 11 December 2009