More Cuban nurses arrive

Nadisha Hunter, Staff Reporter

Another group of Cuban nurses has joined the Jamaican health sector.

The nurses, who arrived in the island yesterday, will be dispatched in the four health regions across the island to serve for two years.

According to the Ministry of Health, the batch of 16 nurses represents the remainder of a total of 51 nurses who were recruited during a trip to Cuba by health ministry officials in June 2010.

The first 35 started working in the public-health sector since January.

Jamaica's chief nursing officer, Dr Leila McWhinney-Dehaney, told The Gleaner immediately after a welcoming function at the Norman Manley International Airport that the recruitment of the Cuban nurses is part of the ministry's endeavour to improve the workforce in the health facilities.

"They make a difference in the system, but this is not the only means we are using to address the shortages of nurses," she said.

"One other way is to sustain the number of nurses we have in the system. It is very difficult, but we continue to give scholarships to our nurses to be trained at different levels. We continue to provide in-service education where our nurses are exposed to short courses in the Ministry of Health, so we continue to seek training as part of the retention strategy for the ministry," she added.

McWhinney-Dehaney said the ministry is also in the process of looking at another agreement between Jamaica and Cuba to get more health professionals to serve in the island.

continue quality work

Cuba's ambassador to Jamaica, Yuri Gala Lopez, encouraged the nurses to continue the quality of work that other Cuban health workers portrayed when they come to the island.

Maria Christina Rodirgues, one of the Cuban nurses, expressed that she was elated to be part of the team that is helping the Jamaicans access quality health service through an increased workforce.

"I am planning to give my all so that the people here will benefit from quality service," she said.

Rodirgues added that she is also looking forward to gain from the experience of working in the island.

The Government of Jamaica entered into a bilateral agreement with the government of Cuba in 2009 to train and supply critical health workers for the local sector. The agreement comes to an end in July 2011.

The findings of a report published last year by the World Bank on nurses in Latin America and the Caribbean region indicate that at least three out of every four nurses trained in Jamaica have migrated to developed countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada.