GREAT BAY, Sint Maarten (DCOMM) – This year’s theme for International Nurses Day, Saturday, May 12 is, “A Voice to lead: Health is a human right,” Collective Prevention Services (CPS), a department within the Ministry of Public Health, Social Development and Labour, said on Friday.
CPS added that May 12 represents the anniversary of Florence Nightingale’s birth. Florence was an English social reformer and statistician, and the founder of modern-day nursing.
CPS would like to wish all nurses especially those working within the Ministry of Public Health, namely, Suzianne Duzong-Davis; Shardina Blomont-Frederick; Ivanca Woodley-Sterling; Claudia Yhan; Edward de Cuba; and Nirmala Vlaun; nurses tasked with the execution and planning of Youth Health Care and the Surveillance activities within the Collective Prevention Services, a Happy Nurses Day on May 12.
“On behalf of CPS and the community, we thank CPS’s nurses no matter the location or the setting, for all their hard work, commitment, initiatives, dedication, and creativity in collectively working to ensure a healthy and protected Sint Maarten, by means of preventive information and activities aimed at preventing diseases and enhancing the quality of life.
“Mobilizing civil society to make sure that the vaccination coverage is at a level to protect the country against vaccine preventable diseases, and mitigate the spread of communicable diseases as well as to undertake positive healthy lifestyles, are just some of the preventive approaches that are taken by nurses in public health care for a healthy community,” CPS said on Friday.
The international theme highlights the strengthening and expansion of primary health care services, based on the Strategy on Human Resources for Universal Access to Health and Universal Health Coverage, as well as reinforces the concept of the role of advanced practice nurses.
According to the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO)/World Health Organization (WHO), PAHO/WHO in the Human Resources Strategy for Access and Universal Health Coverage, urges the countries of the Region to develop strategies to achieve the maximum deployment of professional competencies, according to appropriate models of coordination and supervision, including the change of tasks and the incorporation of new professional profiles.
PAHO/WHO says nursing can contribute to reducing barriers in access to quality health care equitably, but requires, the development of strategies and plans that seek to increase the number of nurses qualified, and expand its role in Primary Health Care.
Experiences from other countries show that advanced practice nurses can improve access to health care in areas with medical deficits, maximize access to Primary Health Care and allow intensive monitoring of patients with chronic diseases.
PAHO/WHO added that Latin America and the Caribbean should take these experiences into account in order to improve universal access and coverage of health.
For information about public health matters, call CPS at 542-1122, 542-1222, 542-1322 and 542-1570; or emailsurveillance@sintmaartengov.org
