Wells says govt appreciates nurses and has treated them as best it can
NASSAU, BAHAMAS — Bahamas Nurses Union (BNU) President Amancha Williams said while nurses are prepared to step up once again for the Bahamian people as the nation faces a third wave of the coronavirus, Minister of Health Renward Wells’ appeal for nurses to come forward is “insulting”.
In an interview with Eyewitness News, Williams said the government has “failed nurses” in the last few years.
She acknowledged losses of nurses in each institution each month, which has led to a shortage.
She said many of them, feeling disenfranchised, disrespected and unappreciated by their government, took offers to work in healthcare institutions in the United States — a trend Wells also raised in the House of Assembly.
“We have been asking for three years for money that you owe us, from Dorian to now,” Williams said.
“We gave you the opportunity to help us and you failed big time.
“So, what do you want us to do? Come and vote for you?
“It could have been better for nurses and would have been better, but what happened after that first and second wave, the nurses realized that the government didn’t have their best interest.
“Nurses have put their foot forward and proven to the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, the Bahamian people, their people, that they love them.
“They proved that when hard times come, they are going to stick with their people and they did.
“With Hurricane Dorian, they worked in Abaco and are still going through some psychological challenges, but they stayed in the trenches.
“And that shows that we have strength in unity.
“They worked together as a team to ensure a number of families that were on death’s door and lost a lot of family members, and the nurses stayed.
“All they asked of their government was to treat them fairly and to pay them the days that they worked so they can help their families.
“You didn’t provide us with the life insurance. We still stayed and put our families in danger. A lot of us got sick and had to pay out of pocket. You put us through hell and then say you appreciate me. Appreciation comes through showing with action.”
In Parliament on Wednesday, the health minister said nursing personnel is depleted in The Bahamas and many have been lost to hospitals in The United States.
He said: “We are treating them as best as we can, but it is hard to compete when someone is offering them a $100,000.”
He appealed to all nurses to “come forward to assist”.
He added: “We need your help and have appreciated your help, and [will] continue to do so.”
Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis, during a meeting with the BNU earlier this year, reportedly promised that nurses would be paid even if he is not.
Vaccination woes
Williams also took grave exception to employers seeking to make vaccination mandatory as a condition of employment, and said the government’s deafening silence on the issue and lack of intervention is telling.
Additionally, BNU General Secretary Sheniqua Cox, in response to the government’s recent announcement that travel requirements will be eased for fully vaccinated individuals, said the said vaccination does not exempt an individual from contracting the virus, though it offers significant protection.
She said the removal of the testing requirement for vaccinated travelers “puts us at a huge risk”.
In Parliament on Wednesday, Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis announced that fully vaccinated individuals — after receiving all required doses of the vaccine and passing the two-week immunity period — will be exempted from RT-PCR testing.
Health officials have said The Bahamas is undergoing a surge of COVID-19 cases due to international travel, breaches of the emergency orders such as large social gatherings and the presence of COVID variants.
