SEVENTY-TWO NURSES RECOGNIZED FOR THEIR INVALUABLE CONTRIBUTION TO HEALTH CARE IN ST. KITTS-NEVIS

Basseterre, St. Kitts, May 13, 2019 (SKNIS): Seventy-two (72) nurses in St. Kitts and Nevis were recognized on Friday, May 10, for their invaluable contribution to the healthcare sector during an awards ceremony held at the Joseph N. France (JNF) General Hospital.
“What we are doing here today is no different to everything else that we come here every year to do, to recognize performance, to recognize dedication, to recognize commitment to service when it comes to rendering the type of quality health care that the people of St. Kitts and Nevis deserve and expect to get to receive, and or obligated to get and receive without fear or favour,” said Minister of State with responsibility for Health, the Honourable Senator Wendy Phipps.

The Honourable Eugene Hamilton, Minister of Health, congratulated the awardees and said that nurses should always perform their duties with a level of compassion.

“You are called upon to exhibit empathy to all of your patients no matter how disgusting you think they are,” said Minister Hamilton. “To my mind, with the scarce resources that we have available to us and perhaps the conditions under which you work, you probably abhor, but to my mind you do a fantastic job nevertheless and I applaud you for the job that you do.”

Minister Hamilton used the occasion to remind nurses that the world “we” live in isn’t perfect and offered words of encouragement.

“And so I want to encourage you to see the things you do, the environment in which you work, your home, your school… and to see things not as the glass being half empty but as the glass being half full because it makes a difference in how you approach the tasks that you do every day,” he said, while encouraging them to appeal more to young persons. “Young people need encouragement to join this noble profession and if we continue to behave like this profession is noble then young people will see something in what you do that will encourage them to want to be part of this noble profession.”

Forty-two (42) nurses, including the Director of Institution Nursing Services, Sonia Daly-Finley, were awarded for perfect attendance in 2018. Some of the other awardees were Nurse Managers (N/M): Claudette Clarke and Bernadette Jack; Assistant Nurse Managers (ANM): Patricia Allen, Jacqueline Duncan, Paula Francis, Vincia Henry, Cheryl Liburd, Alrona Mulraine-McKoy, Lysander Simmonds, Hyacinth Smith, Icilma Wilkin and Sandra Williams; Staff Nurses (S/N): Carline Carty, Phoebe Kate Cayacap, Jessica Clavier, Glaise Diaz, Debra Griffin, Joel Guibert, Bridgette Henry, Isalyn Pitt-Garnette, Jacinda Dias-Prentice, Ikirsha Rawlins, Desaree Ward, Nydia Wharton-White and Natasha Williams.

Five (5) Nursing Attendants (N’ATT) including Trisha Johnson, Latoya Powell, Christene Richards, Isnel Rogers and Michelle Warner; five (5) Emergency Medical Technicians (EMTs) namely, Ann Edwards, Colette Francis, Shawn Mitchelle, Joan Pemberton-Tross and Isha Williams; three (3) Enrolled Nursing Assistants (ENA): Mandiser Duporte, Verlyn Henry and Kimesha Underwood, as well as one (1) Registered Nurse (R/N) Kyla Matthew and one (1) General Nurse (G/N) Nicole Browne were also awarded perfect attendance.

The seventeen (17) persons for near perfect attendance are: ANMs Lavern Bass and Jacqueline Finley; In Service Education Coordinator (ISEC) Louise Morris; S/Ns Louie Baluyot, Keisha Bloice, Jerome Dabon, Jameisha Henry, Nelysa Hutchinson and Marko Rombines; R/Ns Chigozie Louisa Amaefule, Yolta Bellile Elliott, Shanice Herbert and Erica James; ENAs Veronica Eddy, Marilyn Liburd and Lynnis Mcsheen, as well as EMT MaryAnn Francis.

Collin Mulley; Vanessa Matthew; Clariscia Natta; Alister Browne; Osin Guishard; Raymond Grant; Alphonso Wilkin; Brenda Browne; Sema Merritt; Lorna Prentice; Marcel Lawrence; Millicent Rennix and Henrietta Warner were among the 13 Allied Staff who were awarded with perfect attendance in 2018. Additionally, special awards were given in the categories of most improved, most helpful, most outstanding unit and unit of the year.