Nurses, midwifes urged to be innovative and solution-oriented professionals |12 May 2016
The President of the Nurses Association of Seychelles (Nars) Rosie Bistoquet has urged all nurses and midwives in Seychelles to be committed, innovative and solution oriented professionals.
This comes in Ms Bistoquet’s message on the occasion of the International Midwife Day celebrated on May 5 under the theme ‘Women and newborn: The heart of midwifery’ and
The International Nurses’ Day being celebrated today under the theme ‘Nurses: A force for change: Improving health systems’ resilience’.
Ms Bistoquet’s message reads:
“First of all, I would like to congratulate the International Nurses/Midwives Council for dedicating this very important theme this year to commemorate the birth of Florence Nightingale, the pioneer of nursing.
“It is through her sheer determination towards this vocation that we have witnessed the significant milestones in nursing worldwide, including in Seychelles.
“Most people have an ideology that nursing is purely about bedside care, but in actual fact nursing encompasses autonomous and collaborative care of individuals of all ages, families, groups and communities, sick or well and in all settings. Nursing and midwifery include the promotion of health, prevention of illness, and the care of ill, disabled and dying people. Other key nursing roles also include advocacy, promotion of a safe environment, research, participation in shaping health policy and in patient and health systems management, and education.
“Secondly, since the establishment of health care services in Seychelles, nurses had and continue to play a central role in achieving universal health coverage. The nurse workforce has a long history of responding to the changing needs of society. We have developed our practice to tackle public health challenges and to ensure the provision of high quality care. Throughout the 20th century and into the 21st century, significant gains have been made in the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), in particular goals 4, 5 and 6, in reference to the outcome of the Seychelles’ MDG Report 2015. These have been through various national indicators such as increase in life expectancy, eliminating vaccine preventable disease, reducing many of the risk factors associated with child and maternal mortality. We nurses have made significant contributions to improving child survival but we acknowledge that more can be done. On top of known health problems, we face emerging global threats such as drug resistance, new pandemics, emerging infections, natural disasters, global climate change, migration, ageing population, divergence in new technology and most importantly the health, socio-economic factors associated with key population such as alcohol and drug abuse, among others.
“Thirdly, the Nursing/Midwifery workforce in Seychelles are increasingly well educated, to enable us to connect with citizens, communities, policy makers and each other. However, the need to adapt and change more quickly is evident and the challenges set out for the next 15 years will require a new generation of innovation and leadership. As nurses and midwives gain higher profile in the development of local, national and international responses, we need to have confident, well-informed leaders who understand our roles in developing a workforce to meet new challenges. Nurses and midwives being at the core of resilience can make significant contribution to developing and maintaining resilience in health systems. We shall be able to contribute to service development; supervise and develop other members of the team; work with and advocate for patients, their carers and communities; and collect data and inform the development of evidence.
“Fourthly, to support the nurses and midwives into this agenda, the Nurses Association of Seychelles will endlessly ensure a strong nursing voice in all health and social system policy development and planning dialogues. We believe that all nurses and midwives should contribute to public policy development and planning related to care delivery systems, health care financing, ethics in health care and determinants of health to shape the health system. As a group, we have an enormous potential to build and expand our political capital. However, the key to achieving this potential is found in the ability of the individual nurse and midwife to join the association, for the purpose of representation, allowing your voices to be better heard. Together we can employ a number of strategies to contribute to effective policy development, including monitoring the utilisation of nurses, midwives in the workforce; incorporating new models and management strategies; continually marketing a positive image of nursing to key management and policy stakeholders nationally and internationally; disseminating relevant knowledge and research; and, continually developing and maintaining appropriate networks to enable collaborative working relationships with governmental and non-governmental organisations.
“I will not complete this message without addressing the young nurses and midwives of Seychelles; the association recognises your great contribution to these two vocations even though your individual and family needs may not be the same as the experienced nurses and midwives. We are aware of the social factors impacting on your profession but remain focus, committed and promote your professional development to serve the patients, clients you are serving.
“Finally to conclude, providing quality health care services to all people living in Seychelles is the ethical and professional responsibility of each and every nurse and midwife, whether employed as civil servants or in the private sectors. We must be committed, innovative and solution oriented professionals as we continue to provide care with resilience and versatility even with little or no resources or organisational support. However, improving health systems’ resilience requires inter-sectoral efforts by all actors at all levels. Nurses, midwives who deliver the majority of health care services, in collaboration with colleagues in both health and non-health sectors have an important role in this process.
“I wish all, a happy nurses and midwives day especially the retired experienced nurses and midwives who have devoted their lifetime to a noble vocation. Extend your caring hands to support the younger nursing and midwifery generations. To you, nurses and midwives into the international arena, your support is vital in the professional development of nursing and midwifery in Seychelles.”