Govt. still seeking to engage nurses abroad, but Bahamians come first

Govt. still seeking to engage nurses abroad, but Bahamians come first
Minister of Health Renward Wells.

NASSAU, BAHAMAS — The government is still seeking to source 100 nurses from abroad to assist in the COVID-19 fight in The Bahamas, according to Minister of Health Renward Wells.

“The reality is that the Nursing Council of The Bahamas would have just conducted a test for I believe some 71 nursing students who would have completed their training,” Wells said during a recent virtual Ministry of Health press conference.

“They’re actually working inside the medical health environment.

“And upon us obtaining those results, we’d be looking to employ them as full-time nursing officers.

“We are still in the process of seeking to secure nurses from abroad.

“Even before COVID, there was a study done by both PMH and the Ministry of Health that basically showed the country is lacking well over 300 nurses and that was before COVID, so we’ll be looking as to how we can assist in procuring some of those nurses from abroad.

“But we will only do so after we would have employed all of the Bahamians who would have rightly qualified themselves to be in the industry.

In September, Wells said the government was actively seeking to engage nurses from home and abroad.

At the time, Wells said the government was looking for an “immediate injection of individuals”, noting The Bahamas had previously engaged Pilipino and Indian healthcare professionals.

As of Saturday, 20 new cases were recorded, pushing the total up to 6,967.

Of the new cases, 10 were recorded in New Providence, seven in Grand Bahama, two in Abaco and one in Exuma.

There were 1,816 active cases and 4,943 recoveries.

A 60-year-old woman and a 58-year-old man of New Providence became the latest victims of COVID-19 on Saturday.

Total deaths now stand at 154.

About Royston Jones Jr.

Royston Jones Jr. is a senior digital reporter and occasional TV news anchor at Eyewitness News. Since joining Eyewitness News as a digital reporter in 2018, he has done both digital and broadcast reporting, notably providing the electoral analysis for Eyewitness News’ inaugural election night coverage, “Decision Now 2021”.

1 comments

Why not have free training and classes for your own Bahamians to participate in so that they can be ready for the nursing field

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