It represented the darkest of our dark history, in the abysmal depths of the Covid pandemic, when we bear witness to the abundance of PPP lengthy catalogue of arrogance. For our nurses were concerned, and rightly so, about the unapproved vaccines they were being compelled to administer. Since as healthcare professionals, they were all too aware, WHO having appraised Covid vaccines, compiled a list of those recommended and approved.
But PPP drunk on arrogance, disregarded what WHO approved, so ventured to a Middle Eastern middleman, to corruptly purchase that unapproved: Sputnik-V. And with this purchase PPP demonstrated, they cared less about safety and effectiveness, as they demanded we the populace accept without question, that unapproved. Such that, any noncompliant with this PPP COVID decree, faced the consequences of being locked out from government buildings, even as they were publicly named and shamed.
Nonetheless, our nurses being highly trained medical professionals, are knowledgeable about the rigours of vaccine testing, which underpinned safety and effectiveness. As a result, when PPP presented with their cowboy Covid medicine of unapproved vaccines, the nurses rightly objected. And for their objections, they were inhumanely punished, exposed to the harsh elements, as they were locked out of the hospitals.
However, as PPP named, shamed and abused our nurses, foreign recruiters were ingratiating them, opening their eyes to the reality, PPP abuses weren’t consistent with good Human Resource practices. Moreover, the foreign recruiters reminded our nurses, the PPP remuneration is nothing short of pittance, compared to the significantly higher monthly income, they’ve on offer. Further, and more importantly, the nurses were duly informed, if they make the expedition overseas, they’re guaranteed a life of milk, honey, and RESPECT!
And that’s all our nurses needed to hear and know, for in minimal time, they were resigning en masse, as they boarded to leave, on the iron eagle. As a result, the consequences we did face, and compelled to painfully endure, in 2024. That is, at least 700 nurses resigned from GPHC, even as the very GPHC, counted 41 neonatal and 8 maternal deaths. In fact, these nurses’ shortage, and the consequential deaths, painful as they are, aren’t unique to GPHC, as they’re being reflected in hospitals nationwide.
Then with the nurses leaving in droves, the clueless PPP, forever reactive rather than proactive, rolled out a grand plan to increase nurses training numbers, even as they recruited Cuban Nurses. But such a plan, facing an inevitable failure, only illuminated their paucity of ideas, as it pertains to this nursing crisis. For the nurses’ shortage isn’t one of supply, rather it’s a matter of PPP inability to retain trained nurses. Which is down to a combination of factors, more so the mistreatment of our nurses, epitomised in the inhumane locking out of the hospitals, during the Covid pandemic.
In fact, attempting to remedy this nursing crisis, by only increasing nurses training numbers, isn’t dissimilar to placing more water into a very porous bucket, desperate to fill it. For the volume of water would never increase, despite increased supply, since that added would be inevitably leaked. Which means, for the water volume to evidence an increase, that underpinning the water leak, would’ve to be first mended. Likewise, before our nurses’ numbers could evidence an increase, there would’ve to be remedial policies, to address the factors that are causing them to leave.
Having said that, these catastrophic deaths and nursing numbers, represent the painful proof of PPP arrogance in managing the nurses during the pandemic, even as they highlight their nonexistent workforce planning. For PPP can forever increase nurses’ training numbers, but unless they address the underlying reasons for the nurses leaving, there will continue to be healthcare professionals’ exodus. And with these healthcare professionals’ exodus, there are consequences we the masses will continue to endure: The catastrophic deaths of our mothers and newborns.