Nurses Association Wants 5 Issues Addressed
Darrell Spencer
The Nurses Association of Belize wants five issues addressed with urgency and effectiveness. These issues, according to Spencer, include the urgent filling of the Post for Deputy Director Health Services /Chief Nursing Officer, Assistant Deputy Director of Health Services/ Chief Nursing Officer, and the Post of the Registrar. Spencer says that a nurse should be included on the selection panel in the recruitment of nurses. The task force is also demanding that the present Acting Deputy Director of Health Services/ Chief Nursing Officer is retained for a suitable period of not less than six months after the appointment of the newly selected person to that office to ensure a smooth transition.
Darrell Spencer, President, Nurses Association of Belize
“We discussed rather that the person that persons be held on for months at least six months after the office is filled by whatever selection or appointment by the ministry. That is their call, whether it is an appointment or selection but we would like to have a proper transition. An important office such as the Deputy Director of Health Services, Chief Nurse should not have a transition of a week or two. We want things like these to make sure that there is proper handing over and in a previous meeting we were given to that idea that the person who is presently in the office will be held on to find out of recently that the person will be there for a week after they get a person. That is disrespect to nurses. How can I hand over the key nursing seat in the country to a newcomer, to new personnel who does not have that time in the office to recognize all of the responsibilities? How can you then hand that over in a week?”
Hipolito Novelo
“And you are also asking for a nurse to sit on that panel to participate in the recruitment process?”
Darrell Spencer
“Of course. If I want a good journalist I would hope that I have somebody knowledgeable in journalism to be on the panel. We are selecting a Chief Nurse for the country. I do not understand how can you have then not even one person on that panel with any idea of what a nurse actually does.”
