Jamaican government to train more nurses

Tuesday, October 14, 2003

KINGSTON, Jamaica: The Jamaica government believes the solution to the shortage of nurses on the island would be to train more. AP quoted government officials as saying yesterday that they are talking with representatives from several U.S.-based nurse recruitment agencies and at least one university to explore ways of expanding Jamaica's nurse-training capacity.

Ms. Thelma Campbell, chief nursing officer at the Ministry of Health, was quoted as saying, "If we have another partner come and increase our capacity to train our nurses, we'll have enough to stay and a group to go." 

Details of the plan - including how much it will cost and who will pay - are still being discussed, she said, adding the program could be in place by next year. One plan could see Jamaica team up with U.S.-owned Ross University in Dominica to train more nurses, Ms. Campbell said.

Jamaica currently graduates about 200 nurses a year from six schools but many are recruited to work in the United States or Britain, where subsequent training opportunities are better and salaries are up to seven times higher. 

The exodus has hurt the quality of health care on the Caribbean island of 2.6 million, leaving public hospitals with a 30-percent shortage of registered nurses, according to the Nurses' Association of Jamaica.

Due to its shortage, Jamaica has had to bring in 56 nurses from neighboring Cuba, as well as some from Nigeria and India.

The Pan American Health Organization recently warned that, unless government slows the nurse-migration trend, "the ability of many health systems to function will be seriously jeopardized."

At present, there are 97.2 nurses per 10,000 people in the United States, compared to just 11.3 per 10,000 in Jamaica. Guyana, where nurses are also leaving for U.S. jobs, has only 8.6 nurses per 10,000 people, according to the Washington-based group.

The Jamaican government has taken steps to retain its nurses, including boosting salaries, improving facilities and even creating a nurse appreciation month in July.

But health officials say it will be difficult to compete with demand in United States, where an additional 800,000 registered nurses will be needed by 2005, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

"The recruitment is constant and we really cannot tell our members not to go," Ms. Iris Wilson, president of the 2,000-member Nurses' Association of Jamaica told AP.

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