A cadre of nursing students and teachers are better equipped to face the COVID-19 pandemic.
Bridgetown, 25 August 2020 (PAHO/WHO) - The nursing students and teachers of the St. Vincent and the Grenadines Community College – Division of Nursing Education, who were joined by representatives from the Ministry of Health, learned how to effectively communicate vital information on COVID-19 to patients and the general public.
The training session was a joint venture between PAHO/WHO and UNICEF. Risk Communications Team Leader of the PAHO/WHO Office for Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean Countries, Dr. Karen Polson, coordinated the training, while Communication for Development Specialist at UNICEF Barbados, Dr. Lisa McClean-Trotman, facilitated.
Dr. Polson explained: “PAHO/WHO was approached by the Dean of the Community College, Beverley Liverpool, to provide the training. The dean recognized that while nurses are usually required to provide health information, this role has increased significantly due to the pandemic.
“Nurses are often required not only to provide scientific information about COVID-19, but also address issues related to the Ministry of Health’s response.”
Participants were briefed on the basic concepts of risk communication and taught how to incorporate risk communication strategies into planning for public health emergencies such as COVID-19.
By the end of the session, there was greater awareness of the skills and resources needed to strengthen capacity in risk communication and improvement in the understanding of real-time exchange of information to enable informed decision-making.
Since St. Vincent and the Grenadines recorded its first COVID-19 case on 11 March, 2020, the country has recorded 58 cases, with the last case recorded on 17 August, 2020. Nurses have been on the frontline of the Ministry of Health’s COVID response, and continue to engage in many activities including surveillance and case management.
