John Culatto
THE latest group of 16 nurses to complete their courses are already at work in the health service to help in the fight against COVID-19.
Four of the newly-qualified nurses finished off with Higher Education Diplomas in Nursing while 12 completed their BSc (Hons) Nursing degrees.
The courses are run at Gibraltar University through a partnership with St George’s and Kingston universities in London.
“When the World Health Organization designated 2020 as the Year of the Nurse and Midwife in honour of the 200th anniversary of Florence Nightingale’s birth, no one could have predicted it would coincide with the unprecedented COVID-19 global pandemic,” said Sandra Gracia Director of Nursing.
“Now, more than ever, 2020 has brought into focus just how important nurses are across the world.
“I am reminded of the way nurses always rise to the occasion, charging on, ready to fight another day.
“The world depends upon nurses for their ability to combine and balance technical expertise with the highest level of compassion.
“Such a balance permits nurses to adapt to change and to practice under pressure, whist working with the patient to achieve their health care goals.’
Aiming high
Gracia complemented the way the new nurses had completed their studies ‘during a time of much change and uncertainty’ which would helped ‘in our fight during the COVID-19 pandemic’.
Ian Peate, Head of the School, said that ‘the programmes have been delivered to the highest professional standards’.
“External assessment of theory and practice was undertaken by a UK university, ensuring healthcare education that is on a par with international standards,” added Peate.
The Minister for Health and Care, Paul Balban, said he was ‘proud’ of the new nurses as well as their teachers for their hard work.
“These locally based nursing programmes demonstrate, once again, Government’s commitment to provide the adequate training to prospective nursing staff,” said Balban.
The nurses were deployed to all areas of the health service including St Bernard’s Hospital and Elderly Residential Services.
