The Tribune

THE Public Hospitals Authority yesterday launched a UK-recognised programme designed to train nurses to deal with the trauma associated with violent crime.

The nine month Perioperative Nursing Programme is accredited by the Royal College of Nursing in London and in keeping with international standards set by the American Preoperative Room Nursing Association (AORNA).

Said the PHA in a statement: “The historic launch comes at a time when the Bahamas is seeing an increase in crime and violence which has placed an increase burden on emergency, trauma and surgical services.

“The government of the Bahamas through the PHA has responded to this increase by constructing surgical suites at the RAND in Grand Bahama and the current construction of the new Critical Care Block at the Princess Margaret Hospital. Additionally the increase in services demands an increase in nurses trained in the speciality of perioperative nursing.”

Nursing Services advisor Willamae Hamilton Stuart called the launch of the programme timely as it compliments upgrades occurring at various PHA institutions.

She said: “Up to this time, the Bahamas has had no such programme and thus we’ve had to send nurses abroad to be trained. The fact that our nurses can be trained here at home in the Perioperative Nursing Programme and not have to travel abroad means from a funding perspective, we can designate more nurses for the programme each time.”

The nurses who developed the curriculum for the programme and are conducting the training are perioperative nursing and nursing education specialists who were trained at the University of the West Indies in Jamaica, and Walden University in Minnesota.

The programme will begin again every nine months, with the capability to train 15 registered nurses each cycle.

The Perioperatve Nursing Programme is the third programme to be launched for nurses in the Bahamas this year and the fifth to be accredited by the Royal College of Nursing.