The Tribune

By FELICITY DARVILLE

IT takes a special calling on one’s life to be called to care for others when they are, in some cases, at their lowest. Being ill is never easy. But the people who care for you during your infirmity can make the world of difference in your recovery. Nurse Gwendolyn Brice-Sealy knows this, and she considers the calling on her life to care for the sick a blessing that has enriched her life.

Nurse Gwen wanted to do something special to help inspire the next generation of healthcare professionals, give encouragement to those currently in the field, and give the general public a perspective from those who care for them.

“Called to Care” - Nurse Gwen’s fourth best-selling book on Amazon, is already a hit as those who have read it say that it not only shares life through the eyes of healthcare workers, but also provides an excellent historical account of healthcare in The Bahamas.

The book is an anthology that includes eight other healthcare providers: Bernadette Ellis, Registrar, Health Professions Council; Andrea Archer, pioneer of school social work; Debbie Sears-Barnard, founder and executive director, Diamond Cut Leadership Network; Donnel Rolle, training officer, Doctor’s Hospital; Dr Persephone A Munnings, officer-in-charge, In-Service Education, Princess Margaret Hospital; Dr Sandra G Smith, founder of the Foundation of the Word Ministries Intl; Dr Shamel Y Rolle-Sands, CEO of SRS Management and Leadership Consultancy; and Dr Theresa Adderley-Smith, professor UB School of Nursing. 

Gwen, or “Bricey” as she was affectionately called during her earlier years in the nursing profession (and still by her batchmates), also recently co-authored “Yellow Elders”, which is a book written about some phenomenal Bahamian women by twelve authors. These are all inspiring stories narrating the legacies of strength, resilience, optimism, wisdom and faith, among other things, about these ‘elders’! “Yellow Elder” because it is a perennial flower, and it is the national flower of the Bahamas.

Her love of country was shaped by her hardworking parents, both deceased, who instilled many values into her from an early age. Gwen’s mother, Vernell Johnson-Storr, managed the household of the Roberts family on the Eastern Road for many years before she eventually became a self-employed taxi driver. Her roots trace back to Staniard Creek, Andros. Her father, Vernal Brice, was a school monitor at a young age in Exuma. He eventually migrated to America, where he became the building superintendent of a major condominium on Miami Beach.

Growing up, Gwen’s grandmother would take her and other grandchildren to Eleuthera for the summer to visit her only maternal aunt, Elma Johnson Thompson. Elma was a midwife, and the stories she shared with little Gwen about delivering babies on the island would inspire her to follow in her footsteps.

Today, Gwen is a retired nurse who has recently added “best-selling author” to her long list of achievements. She has spent more than forty-five years in the healthcare arena and holds professional certificates as a Registered Nurse, Registered Midwife, a Nurse Educator, a Healthcare Risk Manager, Patient Care Advocate, and Health Care Quality Specialist. During her career, Gwen served as Chairman of the Nursing Council, Assistant Secretary, and then Secretary of the Nurses Association of the Commonwealth of the Bahamas, she was an executive with the Caribbean Nurses Organization, serving as Treasurer for several terms, and she was also an item writer for the Regional Nursing Examinations. Presently, she continues to serve as External Examiner and Cross Moderator for all final examinations that are executed by the Nursing Council of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas.

Gwen has also penned a seven-week gratitude devotional, “Grateful Tidbits” which is geared toward edifying women of God just at the right time. This book started out as an assignment in a course that she was doing, and it also couples as a journal, where the readers get to document their daily and weekly reflections.

She is committed to helping other women increase their faith in God. She uses her testimonies to encourage women. She delights herself in the Lord and is very keen on encouraging women that the power lies within them to speak to the ‘mountains’ and ‘mulberry trees’ in their lives, and even if their faith is as small as a mustard seed, according to Luke 17:6, the mountains would move, and the mulberry trees would be uprooted!

During her career, Gwendolyn blended her love for helping others with her love for teaching by lecturing at the University of The Bahamas (then, College of the Bahamas). She also incorporated another passion (ensuring that quality service was rendered to internal and external clients) into her career and facilitated this by studying Health Care Risk Management with the American Society of Healthcare Risk Managers (ASHRM) and obtaining a Master of Science in Managing Quality in Health Care from the University of Birmingham, England, where she was an awardee of Britain’s prestigious Chevening Award. 

Gwendolyn went on to teach and serve others in the healthcare industry for over 45 years, however during this time, (after she had been in health care for 30 years), she expanded her love for helping others to work in the life insurance industry, where she was recognized as “Rookie of the Year,” and also became a member of the exclusive “Million Dollar Round Table”. After nine years in the life insurance field, Gwendolyn returned home to her first love (healthcare); ultimately retiring as the Deputy Director of Quality and Patient Safety, Public Hospitals Authority.

“You can’t come into this for the money,” said Nurse Gwen. 

“You are seeing people at their worst and at their lowest. They may not be smiley and kind. You need to be an advocate for that patient. Imagine how they are feeling, regardless of how they are behaving. This person is not well. I need to be there to see to it that they get well or during the process, do everything I can to help them be on the road to perfect health... or in some cases, a peaceful death. We know everyone is not here forever.”

Speaking of “Called to Care”, she said: “Hopefully we can reach that nursing student so that they know the challenges they will be facing; matured and even retired nurses so that they will be encouraged; and to help the general public to see what nurses face. We are human beings, and we feel too!” 

Called to Care was published by Universal Impact Press, founded by Aisha Wonderfull. It supports purpose-driven entrepreneurs with writing, publishing, launching and marketing a best-selling book. To obtain a copy of Called to Care, email gwenbrice@hotmail.com.

She is married to Paul Sealy and has gained a son and granddaughter, Cardron and Cardria.