President Granger lauds nursing profession

“I have the deepest respect for the profession.” Those were the words of President David Granger as he highlighted the work of nurses across Guyana in an address to members of the Guyana Nurses Association (GNA).
The Head of State made the remarks during a reception hosted at his residence for the Nurses Association. The organisation celebrated its 90th anniversary this year, with a week of activities under the theme, “United Forces, Uplifting Nursing – Celebrating 90 years with pride.”
The President further noted that his mother was a nurse and so is his sister. Even as the profession has taken on new dimensions, he stated nurses throughout the world have managed to “frame their existence” hence the reason why it is

regarded as the noble profession.
“For most children born nowadays, the first person they see is the nurse and the last person they see before they leave this earth often times is a nurse. When I got married, my wife, when she was ready to deliver, insisted on going to the Georgetown Hospital because of the quality of nursing that was in 1971 and a lot of private hospitals were coming up at that time but Georgetown Hospital had a reputation for having quality nurses,” President Granger is quoted as saying by the Department of Public Information. In her remarks, Public Health Minister Volda Lawrence described nurses as the backbone of any healthcare delivery system.
“We can train as many doctors and specialists as we want to but if we do not do likewise and twice as much for our nurses then the services which we expect to enjoy, we will not be able to enjoy it … so I call you (nurses) the steel in the concrete because many times we don’t see what you do, we only see what the doctors do,” said Minister Lawrence. The Guyana Nurses Association, formed in June 1928, is the oldest nurses association in the English-speaking Caribbean. The GNA is a non-governmental, non-profit organisation opened for membership from all registered nurses, midwives, nursing assistants and public health nurses. Patient care assistants and retired nurses are associate members of the Association, as well.