With more nurses leaving the public health care system to take up job offers abroad, the Ministry of Health today stated that a total of 4,000 nurses are needed to meet the existing and future needs of the country’s healthcare sector.

The Ministry of Health intends to intensify the training of nurses, with a plan to train at least 1,000 nurses per year for the next four years to fill the gap.

In the interim, the Ministry will hire an additional 200 nurses from Cuba in 2024, as it battles a severe shortage of nurses. 

Hundreds of Guyanese nurses are taking up jobs in other parts of the world in places such as the United Kingdom, Canada, and the Caribbean Region. 

At a press conference today, the Minister of Health, Dr Frank Anthony, said despite Government’s best efforts to retain its nurses, many are opting to leave.  

“We have taken several measures in trying to retain our staff. So, one of the measures has been salary increases. That started earlier this year. A registered nurse was paid about a $110,000. That has been increased to about a $160,000 per month. For a Staff nurse, or Midwife, their salary has gone up to about $220,000. Nevertheless, we have recruiters, who are coming into Guyana and actively recruiting people from here,” Minister Anthony explained. 

He said while the government cannot stop nurses from leaving, it intends to redouble its efforts to train more persons to become nurses and nursing assistants. 

It was explained that traditionally, the Nursing Schools at Georgetown, Linden and New Amsterdam would train between 200 and 250 nurses annually. However, in 2022, the Health Ministry launched a hybrid Nursing programme which is designed to train some 1,100 nurses. 

As is the case with the traditional programme, the trainees will undergo three years of training, however, the theoretical aspect is being conducted virtually while the practical sessions will be done at six simulation centers.

In 2024, another 1,000 persons will be admitted for training.   

“We want to train at least 1000 nurses every year for the next four years, once, we are able to do that, then we will have enough nurses for the system that we are designing, and we will continue training,” Minister Anthony said. 

The Health Minister said there is no shortcut, explaining that even with thousands of nurses being trained each year, they are still required to complete the three programmes before being admitted into the system. 

In the interim, Guyana has turned to Cuba for help. 

“Apart from those that we have in training, we have also expanded the recruitment from Cuba, and so, we brought in at least 80 nurses from Cuba this year, and by early next year we are expecting another 200 nurses to come in. We are also looking at other countries where we can recruit nurses from and again, this is an ongoing process,” Dr Anthony disclosed. 

The Health Ministry is also expanding its Nursing Assistant Programme, and come January next year, it will commence the training of 1,000 persons as Nursing Assistants. Those Nursing Assistant trainees will undergo one year of training. 

The Health Ministry is also training hundreds of Pharmacy Assistants, Community Health Workers, and Laboratory Technicians among other key personnel within the Health Sector.

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