Georgetown : The knowledge and skills of nurses should not be confined to the hospital setting but rather they should be exposed to the research arena. In fact, according to Nurse Lois Stephanas who has been lecturing to Bachelors of Science Nursing students at the University of Guyana for the past five years, changes in time and technology has allowed for nurses the world over to have greater opportunities. Among the notable opportunities is the ability to operate in improved working environments and the fact that nurses today have access to a number of research journals. Research, according to Stephanas, while it may not be recognised as important by some, it is in fact a very crucial area in nursing and by extension the medical field.
As a result, she has been directing much effort to amplifying the importance of research. Her most recent attempt was evident Friday when she made a presentation on BSc nursing students’ attitudes to, and their awareness of, research and development within the nursing profession. The forum was the University of Guyana’s School of Education and Humanities Research Day on the Arts and Sciences. Her presentation was made in the Senior Common Room and was among a number of other presentations designed to enhance research output at the University.
Stephanas, an India National, has been lecturing to nursing students for the past 17 years; the latter five at the local university. She revealed that her lecturing experience has revealed that many in the nursing profession are not too inclined to engage in research. “During my experiences as a lecturer I have seen some of them (nurses) have difficulties doing research projects…but I think if their attitudes are positive they will be able to participate in research activities.”
She noted that while some may have the attitude and willingness to indulge in this area they are still in need of much support and encouragement which also includes financial support, and opportunities to present in various countries. In essence, she in convinced that nurses in Guyana are in need of exposure. “They need support from various organisations otherwise they will continue to struggle…they need support not only from the Ministry of Health but various other organisations…”
Often the attitude of nurses to fully embrace the profession comes down to the fact that they expect to be paid well even as she asserted that “they need to be taken cared of well because they are health care professionals and certainly if they are not taken cared of well it would affect their proficiency and so on.”
In fact, Stephanas revealed that there have been a number of researches conducted which speaks to the reasons why Guyanese nurses opt to migrate even in the face of a dire need for improved nursing care. Nurses, according to her “don’t just leave and go to other places such as the Caribbean Islands because of salaries but it has been found that lack of motivation and satisfaction in their work environment also has its effects; staff welfare not being up to the marks affects nurses too and naturally they would look for greener fields where they can grow.”
Stephanas revealed that for the past five years she has seen many exceptional nursing professionals graduate from the university and “I usually encourage them to stay and contribute to the nursing profession…but it is very hard for me to convince them to stay because they all have their personal goals.”
‘What is the point of staying here when there are no opportunities for us to grow career wise?’” many students have asked Stephanas. However, she remains resolute that nurses must seek to grow as a unified body even as they lobby for more support to be directed to the nursing profession. “We can do a lot; nurses have the potential and they have the ability they are just lacking the support,” she reieterated.
However, she stressed the fact that the nursing situation in Guyana, is certainly not unique as a similar state of affairs obtains in India. She revealed that Indian nurses while they were in the past motivated to simply serve are now driven by the need to earn money. “They are money-minded they want to be in the United States and the United Kingdom so that is the motive now for some people to get into the nursing profession…they want to fly to the west…this is not unique to Guyana.”
As such Stephanas emphasised the need for the reinforcement of solid values of nursing such as caring, compassion, empathy, responsibility and commitment into the younger generation of nurses. “These are just a few of the important values and we need nurses to inculcate all of the nursing values…nurses should not be in the profession just to perform nursing duties but they have to demonstrate the ability to be caring to the human beings they are tasked with attending to…these are people who are in need of care…”
Stephanas passionate remarks on the nursing profession come days ahead of the observance of International Nurses Day which is observed globally on May 12. Come Saturday, according to the International Council of Nurses, it is expected that nurses the world over will be celebrated under the theme “Closing the Gap: From Evidence to Action.”
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