President of the Bahamas Nurses Union, Muriel Lightbourne recently spoke to the challenges faced by nurses in the country. She also questioned how the government plans to staff the new hospital given the current shortage issues.

Lightbourne said, “to say that we’re gonna be able to equip the new hospital with manpower, I don’t know how realistic that is because you have an existing hospital that you cannot equip with the manpower. We cannot staff that adequately as it is. I don’t know how we’re gonna be able to staff another hospital but be it as it may, I guess, the powers that be probably have a round pipe and can pull some nurses out of a hat. The way I see it, I don’t see that happening.”

The Union Leader also spoke to the struggle of nurses working on the family islands. She said, “they’re all call on the time, persons coming to their homes in the middle of the night. You have to give somebody something. You just can’t see that’s what we pay you for, liveable wage, that’s what we’re looking at. I wish we could five nurses a liveable wage that would be good, the would keep our nurses here.”

Lightbourne also mentioned other challenges nurses are facing. She said, “then we have an issue with our nurses with insurances. We have an insurance plan however not all of our nurses are benefitting from that. Why is that?”

The Minister of Health and Wellness, the Hon. Dr. Michael Darville has previously stated that the government has a strategy to address medical staff shortages.

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