President of the Barbados Nurses Association, Paulette Drakes, said these issues had to be addressed if nursing was to be developed.

"Our nurses can go anywhere in the world. So when conditions [at home] do not suit them, they will leave," she said.

Drakes was speaking yesterday after a service marking the start of Nurses Week at Bethel Methodist Church, Bay Street, The City.

"We find the Barbados Community College (BCC) does not do all the things we would like. We could be better accommodated, and I suggest we move out
of BCC and be given a separate area where we can
be trained," she said.

"The Language Arts section [of the BCC] is getting assistance [from corporate Barbados]. So what is this saying about nurses?"

Drakes said the training could still be provided through the college and asked for corporate help so nurses could specialise in areas such as diabetics and geriatrics.

She said she would also like to see the nursing programme upgraded to the Bachelor degree level instead of just to the Associate.

However, both Drakes and assistant general secretary of the National Union of Public Workers, Roslyn Smith, agreed that the pass rate of the course in nursing was still too low.

"The ratio is not in keeping with expectations.
It is not balanced in terms of the clinical sites and
the tutors," said Smith who noted that a group of Vincentian nurses had recently been appointed
to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital.

Drakes said there were not enough tutors for the nursing course and that there was also a lack of experience in certain areas which hindered Barbadians from taking or passing the course, but added the students should shoulder part of the blame.

"The students themselves have to apply themselves more and realise they have to work in a shift system. You can't expect to come in at 8 a.m and leave
at 12 p.m," she said. (CA)