Washington DC, 9 November 2023 (PAHO) - The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), in partnership with the PAHO/WHO Collaborating Centre for International Nursing Development in Primary Health Care, College of Nursing, University of Illinois Chicago, hosted the workshop titled “Expanding Roles, Education and Regulation of Caribbean Nurses in Primary Health Care.”
Convened from 1-2 November in Chicago, USA, the workshop aimed to discuss the situation of Caribbean nursing related to primary health care, including education, practice, and cooperation with the Regional Nursing Body (RNB) of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) to increase investments in education, regulation, and practice in Primary Health Care services.
The event was attended by representatives from the Regional Nursing Body and appointed delegates from various countries, PAHO representatives, and members of the PAHO/WHO Collaborating Centers from the University of Alabama, University of Pennsylvania, University of Sao Paulo –Brazil, Columbia University, University of North Carolina, University of John Hopkins and from the University of Illinois at Chicago. Other notable attendees comprised nursing leaders, faculty, deans, directors of schools of nursing, and heads of healthcare institutions from across the Caribbean.
A total of 53 individuals from Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Brazil, British Virgin Islands, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Montserrat, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, and Turks and Caicos participated in the discussions.
The workshop facilitated space for presentations and working groups, covering topics such as education, regulation, migration, working conditions and interprofessional teams. Participants shared experiences and lessons learned in strengthening nursing in the Caribbean and emphasized the important role of PAHO/WHO Collaborating Centers in the Region. In addition, opportunities for technical cooperation were identified.
“It is necessary to acknowledge the important shortfalls in availability, capacity, competence, and quality of the health workforce in the Region. In this sense, Member States can use the Policy on the Health Workforce 2030 technical and strategic guidelines to strengthen their human resources for health to support the achievement of universal health and resilient health systems,” said Benjamin Puertas, Chief of the Human Resources for Health Unit, PAHO/WHO.
Based on the two-day deliberations, agreements were reached in the follow topics: governance and leadership, education, expanding the role of nurses, migration, and retention, working conditions, interprofessional education and collaboration, and regulation.
This workshop underscores PAHO's efforts to investing in and strengthening human resources for health, particularly in the field of Nursing, in the Region of the Americas.
