President of the Dominica Nurses Association, Debra Phillip-Roach believes that in order for nurses to provide optimal care to patients, they must be cared for and treated with the respect they deserve.
On Monday, August 22nd, the Dominica Association of Nurses held an award ceremony to honour a deserving nurse for her excellence in service.
The Association’s President, at that ceremony, called on nurses to play a role in improving their work environment in order to achieve their goal of an excellent healthcare system.
“The International Council of Nurses sums the significance of the nurse as ‘an educated nurse workforce plus good working environment equals high quality care.’
“I call on all nurses to play their part in this equation as the authorities perform theirs so as to achieve our goal of excellent nursing care.”
As the Association celebrates 59 years of existence this week, the first Elaine Pringle Nurse of the Biennium Award was presented to Acting Ward Sister, Nurse Jessica Cuffy-David.
Phillip-Roach called nurses resilient professionals but reminded them that honour cannot be achieved without excellence in nursing care.
She encouraged nurses to be caring.
“As we encourage all nurses to aspire towards excellence and be caring, let me end with a quote from [Contemporary Nursing: Issues, Trends, & Management, 6e]:
“‘Staff members who feel their managers sincerely care about them and the work they do are able to past that feeling of caring onto their patients and customers.’”
Phillip-Roach also quoted, “‘Staff members who feel that their work is valued and that they are respected and cared about as individuals are able to further contribute to a positive caring environment in which to provide excellent patient care.”