Island Notebook

The entire month of May has been set aside for Bermuda’s nurses to be celebrated by a full round of social and cultural events.

It began on Sunday of this week, with the 2014 Nurse of the Year Luncheon at Newstead in Paget. Yours truly accepted an invitation to the luncheon, and the thing furthest removed from my mind, while en-route to the event was that I had written and published a book a generation or two ago on Bermuda’s nurses.

In that period Bermudian nurses such as Cordelia Fubler, Alice Scott, Sylvia Richardson and Iris Davis could be counted on the fingers of the hands.

Awareness of my book, Heroines in the Medical Field of Bermuda was brought home with incredible force when the keynoter at the luncheon, Nurse Kathy Ann Swan commented on the fact there are now 600-odd nurses in Bermuda who deserve being celebrated.

Nurse Swan is currently Vice President of Nursing and Allied Health for the Bermuda Hospitals Board. Described as ‘the consummate nursing professional’, she was recently seconded to the Bermuda College as Director of Nursing Education. Earlier this year Nurse Swan led a team in the design and building of the college’s state of the art Simulation Laboratory, Bermuda’s first.

Healthcare in Bermuda, and elsewhere, was changing and evolving ‘at an astounding rate,’ Nurse Swan observed, adding, nurses are stepping out of their comfort zones and becoming active contributors and innovators in the healthcare system. She added, however, the system was full of an ageing population.

She warned the work force was under threat from migration, among other things; and there was need not only to attract, but to retain, nurses. Nurse Swan stated the cost to replace one nurse could be estimated up to $100.000.

A main highlight of the luncheon was naming of Nurse Gloria Burgess as the 2014 Nurse of the Year. She was cited as an outstanding role model for her peers and the community. She has a passion for nursing, is very caring, and professional in her conduct.

She is the coordinator of the Maternal Health & Family Planning clinic at the Department of Health providing coaching and leadership to a team of experienced nurses with evidence based practice.

She is fair and seeks to understand client complaints and takes appropriate corrective action. She gives voice to vulnerable populations. In partnership with the BHB team, Nurse Gloria helped set up a programme within the clinic to vaccinate pregnant women to increase protection against Pertussis which is on the rise globally.

Recently the new Nurse of the Year completed a Master’s Degree in Human Services with a concentration on Marriage and Family life.