Government officials have acknowledged ongoing challenges in retaining locally trained nurses, citing continued overseas recruitment and the inability to match international salary offers.
Addressing questions during Thursday’s post-Cabinet media briefing, Director General of Communications in the Prime Minister’s Office Maurice Merchant said nurses continue to migrate regularly in search of better-paying opportunities abroad.
“On a weekly basis, our nurses migrate,” Merchant said.
He said Antigua and Barbuda’s nurses are actively recruited because of their training and qualifications.
“Our nurses are being poached because of their standards, because of how qualified they are,” he said.
Merchant said retaining nurses once they are trained remains difficult, particularly when competing with institutions in North America and Europe.
“Unfortunately, there is not much except to try and match the pockets of these international institutions,” he said. “That is practically impossible for us to compete.”
He said financial realities play a major role in nurses’ decisions to migrate.
“Persons will migrate to greener pastures if offered lucrative arrangements,” Merchant said.
Merchant contrasted public healthcare systems with overseas institutions, noting the differences in funding models.
“Government provides health care free for Antiguans and Barbudans through our health centers and Mount St. John Medical Centre,” he said. “Institutions within North America and Europe, you must have insurance, or you pay a significant cost for visiting hospitals or healthcare facilities.”
He said the government continues to pursue local nurse training as part of its long-term strategy, even as it responds to immediate staffing needs through contractual arrangements with international partners.
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A nurse drain in this island is the fault of the ministry of Health. The same apply for the doctors….
The long hours of work with a salary just for survival and very little time for family makes life extremely stressful & challenging.
There seems to be no empathy coming from those in authority
First what is medical benefits all about?
These guys are twisting themselves into pretzels
Don’t the working public pay into the medical benefits scheme
What Mr. Merchant says here and its implications.
“Government provides health care free for Antiguans and Barbudans through our health centers and Mount St. John Medical Centre,” he said. “Institutions within North America and Europe, you must have insurance, or you pay a significant cost for visiting hospitals or healthcare facilities.”
If it was such a simple and straightforward thing Antiguans and Barbudans wound not be doing what the Prime Minister say they are doing, as he says in his video clip. Post the video clip ANR
Let me tell you how easy it is to retain local nurse. Simply pay them good and train them better, you will see how easy they are retained.
The dumbest thing I ever heard that it is hard to retain local nurses who simply expressed to you what exactly they want? Better working condition and pay. Is that really difficult to comprehend?
Don’t that man realise how dunce he sound, you are saying the are well qualified yet they not willing to pay them that’s why the bow g snatched, pay ppl by their qualifications an stop chat shit, those snatcing them kno their worth unlike ere
Nursery
Why is it so difficult to retain nurses? You hire international nurses and pay them double what you pay the local nurses. Nurses are still waiting on a hospital bus to pick them up 9pm for an 11-7 night shift and at the end of the shift they get back home at 9am. What kinda of support is that? No decent living is available for any nurse. They work two and three jobs to make ends meet.
The minister highlighted how many speciality doctors are in the hospital, nurses specialize too but they are not mentioned or remunerated. After the doctors get sent abroad by the hospital to specialize they return and open their own office and work one hour a day in the hospital for $20,000. Per month, while a nurse is stuck at the bedside for $2,800. Per month. Where is the care in that? Who is caring for the carers?
The hospital is in a state of emergency filled with patients and a limited amount of tired, frustrated, burnout nurses. Look at the emergency room. No space for the sick and a handful of newly trained nurses suffering there shift after shift. What are we waiting for to treat these heroes better. No one is addressing it because the work gets done. Mr. Joseph wake up and take your antibiotics because it seems like you have an infection.
Nurses are working 16 hours to provide care in the hospital on a weekly basis and no one is addressing it. Why should nurses who are the worst treated staff in healthcare both in and out of hospital carry the countries health burn on their backs. For years this has been going on. Come on, do better.
Are these educated people that say these things. In Antigua the only people that deserve high pay are the politicians. Here a a few tip how we can retain our nurses.
1. Pay them properly
2. Provide them opportunities to own a home. Like giving preferences in the government built house.
3. Let them apply for concessions through the nurses association.
4) provide group insurance for them and their families.
5) provide the necessary equipment and supplies needed for them to do their work.
6. Show respect for their profession.
7. A proper pension fund or thrift fund.
8) Create a healthy and positive working environment.
9) Try and prevent them from having to work too many extra shifts and when it’s necessary for them to work overtime pay them properly.
10) Sit with them and consult before making decisions that will affect their profession and their wellbeing.lend them a listening ears and respond positively.
The hospital cannot retain nobody. It’s pure nepotism and favoritism. The entire hospital needs a salary audit. The government has been hearing for years and do absolutely nothing. They don’t value us, so we leave
@ My Way Of Helping @ nursery,
Maurice Merchants is parroting what he is told to give to the public. Why be surprised?
They don’t want better nursing and or healthcare for Antiguans and Barbudans. No way.
Gaston recieved a number of high fives for his announcements of a proposed Las School at UWI Five Islands and neither the public or the opposition weighed in.
This announcement was being done as they were negotiating for the Ghanian nurses.
At the very same time Gaston announce are planning to start a Law School at UWI Five Islands.
Not a larger nursing program, for in Antigua and Barbuda we need more lawyers not nurses.
Justice
Imagine a nurse works over her 40 hours per week shift and she is being paid at a minimum rate because the hospital refuse to pay overtime. Supervisors cancel hours that junior nurses work because their salary is going to be the same like their’s or pass their’s when they work extra hours.
Nurses work 16 hours on a holiday and she is only paid holiday pay for the first 8 hours. They refuse to pay the holiday amount for the 16 hours because it’s too much to pay bedside nurses. Imagine the labour department are aware of the many injustices in the hospital and does nothing and says nothing about it.
Nurses across US is presently on strike for better working conditions, safe nurse to patient ratio, better renumeration and we sit here treating our nurses less than.
Finance Department in SLBMC needs to be investigated. I said what I said. Point blank. Stop robbing the nurses. Justice for the nurses.
Ill take a middle position in this. Nurses always are left behind even in wealthy countries.
First by patients, who congratulate Doctors first and “Medical Personal” after. Everyone always remember the name of the Doctor who “Saved your life” but not even know the first name of the nurses, that previous and after the procedure, take care 24 hour of them, bringing the pills at time, cleaning the wounds, cleaning the pop, all dirty job is being handle by nurses and nobody remember their names. Always Doctors take all credits. Is something go wrong then, ohh nurses didn’t perform well.. is their fault.
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