Nursing shortage will continue without improved compensation packages- Ron R. Potter
Acknowledging that nurses are the backbone of the health care system, Mr Potter said staffing issues will continue to be experienced at all the clinics across the territory if government is unable to attract persons to fill those vacant positions.
Dr Potter was speaking on Talking Points on ZBVI 780 AM on Monday, September 9, 2024.
“Because of our budget, how we are compensated, at this point in time we are unable to offer some competitive salaries to nurses, so we do have a lot a lot of vacant positions in nursing that we need to ultimately recruit and have them filled.”
Mr Potter noted too that there is also a staff shortage for doctors, administrative staff and maintenance staff.
‘Competitive packages’
“We do have a shortage and it's mainly because of the, again, competitive packages.”
The BVIHSA Chairman said, in response to the staff shortage, the BVIHSA is about to launch a compensation review “to first and foremost look at the people who are there, how are they compensated? That's one, and then two, in terms of people who are looking to recruit, again, what is the market rate? What is a fair rate?
“That's a review that's still to be launched, right, but again it's something that we have identified over the last year or so and that we ultimately need to get done. And, as you know, these things take time,” Mr Potter stated.
The BVIHSA Chairman added that a discussion is ongoing between H. Lavity Stoutt Community College and the government about starting a nursing school.
Mr Potter was speaking on the backdrop of the death of Mr Revovion A. Sprauve aka ‘Bucky’ who died after being unable to access health care at the Nurse Iris O’Neal Clinic (NIOC) on August 31, 2024.
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18 Responses to “Nursing shortage will continue without improved compensation packages- Ron R. Potter”
However, has anyone recently tapped into the Cuban pool of doctors and nurses? From all accounts, Cuba has one of the best healthcare systems in the world with some of the best professionally-trained doctors and nurses. We need not suffer for the lack of these professionals, when they are situated right in this Caribbean region. Some were welcomed here before, can we not work out a partnership at this time to get onva better footing in Healthcare in the BVI?
Position within the heath staff treat the expatriates technicians, nursing staff and other medical staff with respect instead of lying on them , insulting them, lie on them to their superiors, some of them might still decide to stay . There are some extremely bad apples
Who feels threatened by outsiders who take their work seriously and are picked on . Leave your personal bias at the door and treat colleagues with respect