The WHO is declaring a shortage of emergency nurses in Jamaica. One of them, Trecia Simone Stewart is one of the last nurses who is still working in a hospital of Spanish Town and she reports the crisis they are facing.

Jamaica is running out of emergency nurses. Trecia Simone Stewart is an emergency nurse working in a hospital situated between two major highways in Spanish Town, Jamaica. The hospital treats a large number of trauma patients with injuries including gunshot wounds and road traffic accidents. It has also recently had to manage a large dengue outbreak.

According to an interview of the WHO, Trecia says that she loves the fact that she’s the first person that people comes in contact with when they come into the emergency department. The fact that whatever care she provides for the patient will be a lasting one. She tries to always provide quality patient care and to always do her best to give the best healthcare.

“I want the patient to be treated how I would want to be treated if  I was in a healthcare facility, so I am going to give my best so that quality care is given.”

The creation of a new, bigger emergency department in Spanish Town allowed to take good care of patients but it’s still not big enough to cope with the fast-growing local population. Even if the hospital, built in 1952, saw various developments, the population has outgrown the size of the hospital. You may understand the difficulties of this situation.

Trecia also highlights the fact that many emergency nurses are moving away to work in other hospitals or leaving the country completely. This is leaving the centre short of staff, emergency nurses, in particular.

She is proud to be an emergency nurse and she said: “Nursing is a very noble profession. It’s good to see the World Health Organization recognizing the work we do. And just a quote from Calvin Coolidge, ‘No person has ever been honored for what he received. Honour has been the reward for what he gave.’ That’s a nurse. “