President Keisha Rawlins says being a nurse is AWESOME!
Tell us your name and how long you have been President of the Association.
My name is Keisha Rawlins and I’m the President of the St. Kitts Nurses Association. In June will make two years as President.
What date was Nurses week? What were some of the activities that were held?
Internationally, Nurses Week is from the 6th May – 12th May. On 12th May is Florence Nightingale birthday so Nurses Day is officially on the 12th. Our theme is Our Nurses, our Future: the Economic Power of Care.
We had a whole barrage of activities last year. This year we settled for opening service on the 7th because the 6th was a holiday. Then we continued through with T-Shirt Day that was issued from our Association with our logo. We also had a luncheon for over 300 nurses at an area called Flamboyant Garden. It is on the compound of J.N.F Hospital. We also had a Symposium coming out of the Principal Nurses Office on Wednesday. It was an all day session and food and snacks were provided. It was very informative and we had a panel discussion at the CFB College with nursing alumni. We want to ensure everyone knows that it all starts with going to college at this point. Once ago we use to go to the class room and get advice and know-how from the doctors but we have progressed on to where CFB offers the course to the point where UWI is involved and we are also getting our Bachelors of Nursing through UWI at this point. On Saturday we are having a cocktail at Carambola and Sunday we are going to rest or go to the beach.
(Florence Nightingale is attributed as the ‘founder of modern nursing’. She was born on the 12th May)
How long has the Association been ongoing?
The Association is 71 years strong. Last year we celebrated 70 years of service in a big way where we had a gala at the St. Kitts Marriott and over 300 nurses present.
What do you want the public to know about the Association?
The Nurses Association has in the past been stagnant but we’re trying to revive that so we can be more out there so to speak. We have been encouraging and inviting other people, our family, friends and the public to the different functions that we have so people can be aware that we do have functions and to come along and come on board. This is something that is in progress as we continue to entice the public.
What is your favourite part of being a nurse?
My favourite part of being a nurse is being a people’s person. Meeting people on a daily basis inspires me. Some friends I have met through nursing and my career has lasted about 22 years, thus far. So I’ve met some wonderful people along the way. Also you meet people who you lose along the way. It’s like bitter sweet but being a people’s person, meeting new persons, helping persons and being there in there time of need is my favourite part of being a nurse.
As President, what do you enjoy most about nursing leadership and how do you manage your leadership responsibilities with your nursing duties?
Well. It’s a tough tough role. It is not easy. It is not for the faint of heart and it is a lot of lessons learnt along the way. As we grow and we gravitate as adults and as we get more mature we learn and offer this to the student nurses who are following in our footsteps. So I personally enjoy when we have student nurses so I can help them. Some of the things we see lacking in today’s nursing is our morale. It has somewhat declined over the years. You could not be married and be a nurse. You had to be prim and proper. And I’m not saying that we have to go back to the old way of doing things but going forward we need to be a little more compassionate. That is what it should be all about. I take pride in mentoring the young nurses because my responsibility is to make sure they are well rounded. We are opening our shores now and any person can be a patient and we also have nurses from different cultures. So because we have this diversity we want to make sure our nurses are well rounded. We didn’t learn when we go to CFB to forget. We didn’t learn for now, we learn for the future. Nursing is continuous. We are also learning for when we go abroad for nurses are migrating as well. Leadership is a big responsibility and it is a difference when you’re a boss but a leader is someone who encourages the team, motivates the team and is right along with the team. I take pride in being a good leader and I think you should be if you want to succeed. Leadership helps you in your personal life as well and in other avenues once you are a well rounded person. I take pride in being a leader and I take pride in nurturing the youngsters who are on their way up.
What is the greatest challenge that nurses face today, in your opinion?
As I said before, we have a decline in our morale, and nurses are coming into the profession and sometimes the passion is not totally there and we want to go back to where there is empathy and compassion, not just about academics. It is clear that academics can carry you thus far but respect and integrity, compassion and empathy can take you so much further. So I think this is a challenge we are facing today where we would want to bring that back to the table. We want to improve our customer service as well. It is something that is lacking. Even though we are caring for someone, it’s a business. We are offering services as we are helping the needy, helping the poor, helping those who are down who are ill and dying. But at the same time we are offering services to encourage and support them to make other people feel good. We offer breast care services. We are aiming for baby friendly hospitals where young mothers do not have to deal with getting food for their babies when food is readily available and free right on them. Anywhere you go it is accessible. We have been trying and want to make that known.
We also want the public to know that we are doing the best that we can with the resources that we have. We have plenty challenges. Our environment is not totally suitable for working but we work around our situation. There are renovations going on right now and we have to be shifting. But with progress it happens. Nothing is going to stay the same. New becomes old and have to fix so this is life and we have accepted that and we have to be shifting as well.
As I said before we need a pep up in our morale and other areas like communication. It’s a stretch when we have to communicate to various departments to get things done and then the nurse gets blamed, forgetting that we have a whole team: the doctors, the x-rays tech and the lab and pharmacy. All of these persons play a role in our job being delivered and patients getting healthy outcomes. We are a whole facet of departments that are intertwined. We should have the proper, efficient and professional communication. That too can be added to one of the things that we are lacking and need to improve on.
For people that want to do nursing but unsure what qualities do they need to become a nurse?
As I said it before, you have to be compassionate, caring, empathetic. You have to care in the first place. We are in the business of caring so caring should be a must. So that’s a foregone. And we should be honest and have some integrity and pride.
If there is anything else you wish to share with the public you think is important feel free to do so.
I think that nursing is great and the profession is honourable and noble. I think we are professionals in our own right and we are advocates for going forward in the future for if the Federation should have a crisis, we are always going to be here working and making sure everyone is fine. We just want the public to know that we are open for change. We are open for positive changes and we accept that there are areas that we need to improve on and we are working on that. We are trying to be the very best for persons who come through our doors. It makes you feel good after a long day or a long week for the years of service to know that you have helped so many people whether we helped to bring them into the world or helping them go out for sometimes we’re right there when someone is having a peaceful and dignified death as they go to sleep. We are there from the beginning and we are there to the end. It makes you feel much pride as you venture on in the years. It is not something to regret but something to go forward to because being a nurse is AWESOME!!
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Read More About Pioneer Nurses from St. Kitts and Nevis by clicking the links below
May Stevens – First Native Matron
https://caribbeanvybes.com/may-stevens-first-native-matron/
Bronte Welsh – First Public Health Nurse
https://caribbeanvybes.com/bronte-welsh-first-public-health-nurse-in-st-kitts/