Nars pays courtesy call on President Ramkalawan |12 November 2021
The Nars delegation in a souvenir photograph with President Ramkalawan (Photo: Jude Morel)
The Nurses Association of the Republic of Seychelles (Nars) paid a courtesy call on President Wavel Ramkalawan yesterday at State House.
The 13-strong delegation was headed by the association’s president, Rosie Bistoquet.
Yesterday’s meeting was Nars’ first official encounter with President Ramkalawan since he assumed office and is a follow up of the association’s meeting with health minister, Peggy Vidot, earlier this year.
Further education and continuous training opportunities for nurses were top on the agenda during Nars’ meeting with the President, said Mrs Bistoquet after the courtesy call.
“This is especially in regards to specialisations in nursing. The majority of nurses in Seychelles hold diplomas in nursing but that is only a generalised qualification,” explained Mrs Bistoquet.
“But Seychelles is dealing with a myriad of non-communicable diseases such as cardiovascular problems, cancer and communicable diseases such as HIV, and there are different sections within the health sector like cardiology, oncology, theater, community nursing, vaccination and so on which nurses can specialise in. Unfortunately, most nurses right now are only trained as general practitioners rather than specialised in one domain.”
Mrs Bistoquet added that this will in turn translate into better customer and patient service, providing a more holistic approach.
“The president has committed to helping us in this endeavour. Nursing is a profession which is not affiliated with a university. While the tourism academy has a link with the Shannon College in Ireland, teachers are also affiliated with a foreign university, but nurses do not. The President recognised these deficiencies and, based on the health indicators and the diseases we deal with in Seychelles, he has given us the guarantee to develop nursing to its full potential for quality health care.”
Elsie Pointe