Nurses, midwives review nursing quality in the 21st century |29 May 2017
Nurses and midwives contribute towards Nars’ direction through the development of the Nars strategic framework 2018-2022.
This was done through a half-day forum organised by the Nursing Association of Republic Seychelles (Nars) on Saturday at the International Conference Centre of Seychelles (ICCS).
Two previous meetings had been organised prior where over 170 nurses attended. The first forum was held at the Ephelia Resort on Mahé on March 4, 2017 and the second on May 13 on Praslin.
During the validation workshop Nars president Rosie Bistoquet led a presentation on Nars’ mandate, followed by a presentation of the recommendations report from the past consultative forums by Nars member Gemma Barbier.
The main recommendations reviewed targeted the quality of nursing care, nursing in the 21st century, the image of nursing, socio-economic welfare and Nars’ direction.
For the quality of nursing care, they felt the need to conduct a national needs assessment to determine the correct staffing level for a period of four to five years as a matter of urgency.
According to the nurses and midwives, the ageing workforce needs to be refreshed and renewed. It also needs to be gender-balanced as there is a lack of men in this field.
Among several recommendations they requested that the Ministry of Health (MoH) should aim at strengthening pre-registration education and training as well as re-address retention strategies such as scheme of service, reward schemes, gratuity scheme, appraisal system, working conditions and training opportunities
For the nurses and midwives to excel in the 21st century they feel the need to acquire new knowledge and skills to meet the new health needs facing our society today, such as training in information technology to prepare them for medical informatics, operation of new high tech equipment.
They recommended that a better communication mechanisms between directorates of nursing and practitioners be developed and also to have the Nurses and Midwives Act reviewed to allow for nurses and midwives to set up their own private practice.
To uphold the nursing image, they feel the Seychelles Nurses and Midwives Council (SNMC) should strengthen its autonomy by having clear written policies and guidelines and more transparency should be introduced with proper criteria when choosing nurse leaders.
They also stated that the National Institute of Health and Social Services (NIHSS) have the primary responsibility to nurture and develop the professional nursing image in the students as future nurses.
To improve their socio-economic welfare they suggested the MoH should consider re-establishing the day care for nurses and midwives with young children and flexible working hours should be made available so that nurses and midwives with family commitments, who still feel they can contribute to the health services should be given the opportunity to work on a part-time basis.
The nurses and midwives have recommended that the starting salary for their grade should be a net of R15,000 per month.
Nars envisages being a stronger body by increasing its membership, strengthening its affiliation with international organisations and attracting nursing students while working with the MoH.
The plenary discussions and validation was led by executive committee member Monica Servina.
Mrs Bistoquet urged the nurses and midwives who have not joined the association to do so to be part of developing the development plan.
“We need more nurses to be more representative in numbers and be able to implement strong, firm policies to give this profession the respect it deserves. Help us, help you,” she said.