CONTRIBUTION OF NURSING IN THE REGION
OF THE AMERICAS AND ITS POTENTIAL
towards Universal Access to Health and
Universal Health Coverage
GUYANA
Tarramattie Barker
Chief Nursing Officer, Ministry of Public
Health Guyana
Objectives of the Presentation

To present the demographic and geographic data, describe the national
context, population, health care and epidemiological situation.

Highlight nursing data, as it relates to nursing human resources,
distribution, training, labour market, and practice .

Explain some of the country's challenges and strategies related to
nursing human resources.

List how nursing in Guyana will contribute to the achievement of
Universal Health Access and Universal Health Coverage

Highlight strategies and experiences that contribute, and challenges that
may be barriers to achieving universal health coverages
Guyana
Guyana is a tropical country on the
Northern Shoulder of South America
Bordered
•
Venezuela on the West,
•
Brazil in South West
•
Suriname in the East
Only English speaking country in South
America
Area:
215,000 sq. km.
Population:
763,900 (census 2014)
Capital city: Georgetown
Currency:
Guyana Dollar
GDP:
3.097 billion(2014)
National Population
Age Group
%
Males
Females

0-14 yrs. 29%
108,703
104,793

15-24yrs
21%
79,354
74,921

25-54yrs
37.2%
143,348
131,108

55-64yrs
7.5%
24,677
30,562

>65 yrs.
5.3%
16,318
22,770
Life expectancy
60
67
Causes of death in Guyana

Ischaemic Heart Disease

Cerebro-Vascular Accidents

Neoplasm
Increase rate of Suicide
The Ministry of Public Health
Guyana

Has Responsibility for the Populations Health
(Public/Private)

Regulation of Health Policies and Legislation

Establishment and Enforcement of Standard
for the delivery of Health Care

Accreditation of health facilities
(Public/Private)

Protection of the Public’s health nationally.
Mission: The Ministry of Public Health

Create an enabling framework to provide
leadership in Health

To ensure integrated delivery of quality, effective
and responsive health services

To improve the physical, mental and social
wellbeing of all persons in Guyana

Steward national health issues, Advocating and
Advising on Health across all spheres of Public
Policy.
Health Vision 2020

The vision is that the people of
Guyana are among the healthiest in
the Caribbean and the Americas.

To include not only Guyanese
citizens but also the frontier,
migrant and non-resident
populations within our borders.
National Health System in
Guyana
There is a five tier level Health care system

Level 1 Health Post

Level 2 Health Centre

Level 3 District hospitals

Level 4 Regional Hospital

Level 5 Referral Hospital
Health services are decentralized to ten
administrative regions of Guyana to ensure
efficiency and effectiveness equity and
equality in the delivery of health services.
Health Care Financing

Health Care in the Public is free and funded by the
Government of Guyana and other international
partners/agencies

Global Fund, UNAIDS,PAHO/WHO,UNICEF,UNFPA
etc..

Collaboration with Public/Private Partnership

Private Health Care is out of pocket for citizens.
Nursing and Midwifery
Personnel in Health System
 Registered
Nurses
871
 RN/Midwives
325
 Midwives
417
 Nursing Assistants
703
 Public Health Nurses 20
 Nurses with Extended Roles
(Anaesthetic, Paediatric, Mental
Health, Critical Care, Neonatal)
Nursing Personnel

There are over 40 Cuban Specialist nurses who
are employed in the Public System on
Government Bilateral Agreement, and delivers
services at level 3,4,and 5 health facilities
Other Category of Health Personnel in the
health system

Medex

Community Health Workers
They provide services at level 1,and Level 2.
Nursing Schools

There are three Public nursing schools and
one Private which prepares Nursing
Personnel

Registered Nurses
Diploma

Direct/Post Basic Midwifery
Certificate

Nursing Assistant
Certificate

University of Guyana Post-Basic RN to
Bachelors Level.
Advanced level at
Masters/Doctoral Studies
Nurses are not prepared at the Masters and
Doctoral level
Six Nurses were offered Scholarship at the
Masters level through the University of
Guyana and the University of Conniecuit in
the USA.
Need for Capacity building for Nursing and
Midwifery Educators to Masters/Doctoral
level in order to be aligned with the
CARICOM Region as having the Bachelors in
Nursing as entry level for all Nurses in
Guyana.
General Nursing Council
 The
General Nursing Council of
Guyana set the Standards for
Nursing and Midwifery Education
and Practice.
 It is the Regulatory and
Legislative body for Nursing and
Midwifery in Guyana
 Registers and License Nursing
Personnel
Training and Employment of
Nursing Personnel

Nursing Personnel are trained for the
Public and some through request of the
Private institution.

Nursing personnel recruited by the public
system, on successful completion of
training are employed by the Ministry of
Public Health

Nursing personnel are deployed and
distributed according to the needs and to
ensure the right skill-mix within the five
tier level Health system in Guyana.
Challenges to work in
Underserved Regions/barrier to
UHC
Nursing personnel do not want to leave
their families.
 Housing and Remuneration packages.
 Working Conditions
 Cultural diversity
 Inadequate finances, lack of
infrastructures, medical equipment
supplies and Medicines



Lack of Communication and Transportation
Supervision and monitoring
Strategy to ensure Universal
Access and UHC



Selection of Personnel from the remote
hinterland communities to be trained as
Nurses, Midwives, Medex and Community
Health Workers to return and serve their
communities
Nursing Personnel from the Coastland are
assigned to serve in the remote
underserved areas for contracted period of
time.
Scale up of Nursing and Midwifery and
specialized nursing training to meet the
demand for the right skill-mix for
expansive primary, secondary and tertiary
level health Care services
Cont’d

To adequately recognize, remunerate, reward
Nursing personnel for professional and continuing
education training and service to health system

Capacity building for Nursing Leaders,
Administrators, Researcher, Managers and
Educators, to Masters and Doctoral Levels to equip
personnel with the knowledge skills and
competencies to be efficient and effective and to
build and strengthen a robust health system to
meet the demands of the health care delivery
system.

To have a Research agenda for Nursing and
Midwifery, so that there is evidence for policy and
decision makers to inform practice.
Thank You
Thank you for
YOUR
PARTICIPATION
The recording will be available at:
http://observatoriorh.org/enfermeria
paho.org/nursing
observatoriorh.org/enfermeria
facebook.com/EnfAmericas
twitter.com/EnfAmericas