Basseterre St. Kitts (July 16, 2008) -- Assistant Matron at the Joseph Nathaniel France (JNF) General Hospital, Rita Hendrickson-Isaac, has said that even though St. Kitts is a small country, it needs to keep abreast with what is happening in the general area of medicine.
She expressed the sentiments Wednesday morning when she received, on behalf of the hospital and the Department of Health, two computers from Marva Burroughs, Human Resources and Marketing Manager with the Development Bank of St. Kitts and Nevis. Presented were a desktop and a laptop computer.
On behalf of the staff of JNF Hospital and the other health institutions, we want to express our appreciation for these gifts, said the assistant matron. They are timely. At this point in time health delivery is going forward in leaps and bounds and we need to move forward too. Although we are a small nation, we need to keep up with the times.
The computers will mainly be used for research and documentation, and through their findings, the nurses will be able to keep abreast with the patients diagnosis and help with the procuring of new drugs. It is anticipated that patients will stay in the hospital for shorter periods, enabling them to enjoy fuller and better healthier lives.
She explained that with the computers (hooked to the internet), they will help us with our research on new drugs that are on the market, and so it will help us to treat our patients using the latest drugs. They will also help us to know the side effects of these drugs, and help us in the observation of our patients so that we would know, because we are not makers of the drugs. We will therefore know what side effects to look for, and in so doing help patients to leave hospital at a reasonable time.
While making the presentation, Marva Burroughs noted that a medical practitioner is on record for having said that a healthy nation is a wealthy nation and observed that the Development Bank of St. Kitts and Nevis takes pride in carrying forth our mandate to improve the progress of our nation and our people.
As such we are glad to make this contribution to the Health Department and the JNF Hospital, to improve your facilities, thus improving productivity and the service to our people. I hope they will do a mighty work for which they were sought.
Speaking on behalf of all the nurses working at the hospital and the senior nurses who witnessed the handing over ceremony was Assistant Nurse Manager Cathalina Paulius, who also said that the computers were quite timely and added that I know definitely they will help us with our records and documenting, and research in the operating theatre and other departments.
The ceremony, which was held in the Administration Building of the JNF General Hospital, was witnessed by Eldean Huggins, MIS Support Officer with the Development Bank, who helped to assemble the computers, the hospitals Operations Manager Launette Adams, and senior nursing staff members.
