Thursday, December 29, marked the historic first passing out of graduates of St Vincent and the Grenadines Community College’s (SVGCC) Bachelor of Science Nursing Programme.
Twenty-one graduates received certificates on that day during a recognition ceremony held at the SVGCC Villa campus.
Among the twenty-one who graduated the four-year programme that began in 2018 as a franchise of the University of the West Indies Mona Campus School of Nursing, there were three who secured First Class honours: Mekeisha Browne (Most Outstanding Theoretical & General Nursing Council ‘GNC’ Award); Shanelle Hamilton (Top Performer) and Nigel Thomas (Most Outstanding Clinical).
In addition, nineteen of the graduates successfully completed the Regional Examination for Nurse Registration (RENR), last October.
Most significantly, it was the first group of Vincentians to achieve 100% at a regional nurse registration, since the change of the examination format in October 2012.
The RENR tests the competencies of the entry-level registered nurse, and is administered and graded by the representatives of the Regional Nursing Councils in Caricom countries.
Moving from novices to experts
The achievements of the first cohort, met the elation of, Deputy Dean and the Nursing Programme Coordinator – Dr Roxanne Stowe-Maloney – was understandable elated with the performance of the first cohorts of the programme.
In formally welcoming them, Stowe-Maloney stated: “It is your time to go out there and do your best to make your patients or your clients and their families feel so great, because of the care that you provided, that they will never forget… You have been equipped with the necessary knowledge and skills to do the work, go and apply them.”
She reminded the graduates that whilst they will still be considered “novices”, they will have to work assiduously to get past that status.
“It will require experience before you can be considered to be an expert in your field… So I urge you to be humble, listen to advice of your colleagues and your supervisor, be mentors to the students and younger nurses, apply the code of ethics and nursing at all times…Be assertive, be good listeners and good customer care agents to your patients, your clients and the people that you serve, be change agents,’ she advised.
Among the travails of the nurses were the advent of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 and the disruptions and displacement caused by the eruptions of the La Soufriere volcano in 2021.
But as the new nurses embark on their career path, Stowe-Maloney while reiterating the stressful nature of their job, implored them to apply self-care, be reflective and stay informed in the changing dynamics of the profession.
“We need to have a little relaxation… reflect on your day… and thirdly, read, always keep abreast of what is happening, especially in your professional, medical and nursing journals”, Stowe-Maloney.
The ceremony was also addressed by Deputy Director of the SVGCC – Karen Thomas, who spoke on behalf of Ms Joyette Aiken, the Coordinator of the UWI School of Nursing Programme. Shenelle Hamilton gave the students’ remarks.
