NURSES have been urged to follow in the footsteps of Florence Nightingale – the founder of modern nursing. The call came from PAHO/WHO Country Representative Dr. William Adu-krow, when he
addressed the Registered Nurses, Nursing Assistants and Single-Trained Midwives, who recently completed their respective programmes at the Georgetown School of Nursing. The graduation ceremony was held at the National Cultural Centre last Thursday.

While acknowledging that nursing has evolved tremendously since the days of Florence Nightingale, Dr. Adu-Krow said there are certain qualities that can be emulated by today’s crop of nurses.

Three of the 310 graduates lighting their candles as a pledge to follow in the footsteps of Florence Nightingale

Born in Florence, Italy, in 1820, Florence Nightingale and a team of nurses improved the unsanitary conditions at a British base hospital, reducing the death count by two-thirds during the Crimean War. At nights, she offered personal care to the wounded, establishing her image as the “Lady with the Lamp.”

In the words of Dr. Adu-Krow, she was a woman with a charming personality, and a passion for nursing, and as such understood the importance of patient care.

Like Florence Nightingale, the PAHO/WHO Country Representative called on the graduates to make their mark.

“Don’t think about the limitation that you have. Florence Nightingale went with a lamp and made a difference – you could as well.”
– Dr. William Adu-krow, PAHO/WHO Country Representative

“Try and make a mark anywhere you happen to be,” he urged, while pointing out that “at the time of Florence Nightingale, there were doctors, there were other persons in the medical field, but it is said that she felt that simple techniques like just washing hands could save lives.”

He said while there are many challenges, the nurses should not allow themselves to be limited by those challenges. “Don’t think about the limitation that you have, Florence Nightingale went with a lamp and made a difference, you could as well,” he posited.

This year, 310 persons successfully completed the three primary programmes offered at the Georgetown School of Nursing: the Single-Trained Midwifery Programme, the Nursing Assistant Programme and the Professional Nursing Programme, also known as the Registered Nursing Programme.

In delivering the principal’s report at the Biennial Graduation Ceremony, Sister Cleopatra Barkoye noted that in 2014, the Georgetown School of Nursing presented 114 candidates to write the State finals examination, of which only 35 per cent was successful. In 2015, another batch of 210 candidates wrote a similar exam – 132 in March and 78 in October. Sixty-five per cent of the first batch passed that exam, while only 40 candidates succeeded in the one written in October.

Between 2014 and 2015, a total of 40 students wrote the midwifery exam, but only 29 ended on a successful note.

Unlike the two other programmes, more than 90 per cent of the candidates excelled in the Nursing Assistant Programme. From a batch of 59 in 2015, only two persons failed, according to the principal.

“Today’s graduating class of 2016 is the largest graduation in the history of the Georgetown School of Nursing, 99 of whom were admitted in a class of 255 students in 2010. The second record for the history books today are the 24 graduates from Batch 123 – the first group of professional students that were enrolled on the evening programme at the Georgetown School of Nursing,” Sister Barkoye noted.

Of the lot, 187 were Registered Nurses, 48 midwives, and 75 nursing assistants. Additionally, 21 of the graduates were presented with awards for their outstanding performance.

“Notwithstanding the need for material and human resources to properly guide students, 310 persons made it to the tape successfully,” Sister Barkoye noted.