Muriel Lightbourn
By LEANDRA ROLLE
Tribune Chief Reporter
lrolle@tribunemedia.net
ABOUT 50 nurses have left the public healthcare system over the last three to four months as the the union pushes for more benefits to improve nurse retention, according to Bahamans Nurses Union president Muriel Lightbourn.
Ms Lightbourn did not specify what the union is seeking to include in its new industrial agreement but said she remains hopeful the government will meet their demands.
“Everybody know that our nurses are leaving and nurses are not just going abroad, but they're leaving for other professions that would help them succeed in their real life and so with this new industrial agreement, we're actually trying to put some things,” she said, adding the country can’t afford to lose more workers
The last industrial agreement was signed in 2022 and ended in October, following an earlier deal in 2020.
That agreement provided salary increases, added insurance benefits, and retention bonuses of more than $3,000 depending on criteria. Entry-level salaries started at $26,000 per annum, with the potential to rise to $30,000.
The BNU president also highlighted ongoing delays in promotions and confirmations within the public healthcare system.
Ms Lightbourn pointed to the acting director of nursing as an example, who has been in the post for more than nine months without confirmation. She called the situation “distasteful” and “a slap in the face.”
“In every department where you have in this country, everybody have a chief there, and that chief is the person who's appointed, who's confirming their position,” she said.
“Why are you taking that stance with nursing? Why is it so long? It's taking so long for us to appoint our Director of Nursing? Why?”
Adding to these frustrations, Ms Lightbourn said about 24 nurses are still waiting to be confirmed and appointed.
Comments
Porcupine 3 weeks, 6 days ago
This is simple. Our "honourable" leaders would rather pay foreign workers peanuts, rather than pay our own people for the valuable work they do. Nurses and teachers are critical to our well being and growth as a civilized country.. THEY DON'T CARE! We clearly have been so dumbed down in this country that we can't see this as national suicide. The brain drain has been going on for some time. Brave and company prefer to have ignorant and stupid citizens. Who else would vote for them? We have failed as a nation. We may as well elect web shop owners to government. This nation is finished.
Empiricist 3 weeks, 6 days ago
This is not a problem. This negotiation tactic will backfire. The Government should bring in nurses from the Philippines, India, Nigeria and Ghana who will be very happy with the current terms and conditions of service our nurses receive. Clearly Ms. Lightbourn fails to understand that we a living in global labor market for these professionals.
Porcupine 3 weeks, 6 days ago
We have a choice. We can appreciate our own and pay them a living wage, or we can embrace the global labor market and take what we can get. As a business owner and corporate manager, I can comfortably say, that if we did embrace this view, there would be very few Bahamians left in The Bahamas. The stats show clearly our productivity, or lack thereof, and for all to see is our national work ethic. Do you realize what would happen if we opened up our country to Mexican construction workers? There wouldn't be but a fraction of jobs left for Bahamians. Our work ethic, by and large, is a joke. I have long advocated bringing in talented and proven managers, since it is so difficult to find people capable of running ANY of our State Owned Enterprises. Besides speaking to many Bahamian owners and managers who all say the same thing. We truly lack an educated, honest, reliable work force. Most Bahamians are unemployable in the global market. This is a fact. If we were a transparent country, and eliminated even a small fraction of the theft, incompetence, waste and fraud, we would have more than enough money to pay our professionals a living wage. They say it takes @ $120,000 to be in the middle class in this country. Seems only a handful of people make that much. Politicians and their cronies, web shop owners and criminals. None of which have any real education, or ethical mores. Sad, but true.
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