Region Three nurses hand out awards
Fund launched for ailing colleague
Stabroek News
May 15, 2003
In observance of International Nurses Day 2003, the Guyana Nurses Association Region Three Branch held a church service and an awards and luncheon ceremony on Monday at the West Demerara Regional Hospital (WDRH).
Under the theme "Nurses Fighting AIDS Stigma, Caring For All", the ceremony kicked off a week of activities in celebration of the occasion.
Among those receiving awards were medex Harrichan Ranaw, health visitor Linda Johnson, midwife Evelyn Hercules, nursing assistant Claudia Trotz, community health worker Jenny Deochan, staff nurse/midwife Juliet Lawrence, staff nurse Mashash Tanie, midwife Muriel Williams, nursing assistant Yasmin Henry and nurse aide Chandrapattie Indar.
The event was also used to make nurses aware of a fund set up by the regional nurses to assist an ailing colleague who is due for corrective heart surgery in Trinidad.
Nursing Assistant Bounecia Davis who is attached to the West Demerara Hospital was diagnosed with a heart condition several weeks ago and needs close to $3 million dollars, excluding airfare and accommodation, for surgery.
During her address, Rona Merle Persaud called on the nurses to assist Davis, adding that the nursing profession is a caring one. Persaud noted also it was one of their daily duties as nurses to save lives, including their own.
And Audrey Corry, President of the Guyana Nurses Association, in her address remarked that the theme this year was very appropriate and disclosed that the association is contemplating educational programmes to create an environment where nurses and others championing the cause can work together to fight the AIDS stigma.
Grace Bond, Chief Nursing Officer at the regional hospital, who delivered the feature address declared that nursing is not a profession confined to the hospital. Bond pointed out that stigmatisation kills faster than the disease, and charged the nurses to condemn all forms of this practice.
