Basseterre, St. Kitts, February 08, 2016 (SKNIS): Minister of Health, Honourable Eugene Hamilton, has charged a graduating class of Emergency Medical Technicians (EMTs) and Nursing Attendants to embark on a mission to change the course of the life of others, as they carry out their duties and live in their communities.
He said this February 05, at the graduation ceremony of nine EMTs and eight members of the 11th batch of nursing attendants who had all taken a six-week course in November and December of last year.
Minister Hamilton described the event as “a beginning” and encouraged the graduands to perform their jobs well but also to personally make a change in their communities.
“At this time our nation faces crisis,” Minister Hamilton said. “Crisis where young people in particular are taking the lives of others. You have a civic responsibility to speak out and to identify and try to stop it. It’s not just a job for police, it’s a job for all of us. You have a responsibility to do that. Speak out.”
The Minister reinforced the thought by emphasizing that each individual has to be part of the change.
“You have the power within you to change this nation from the direction in which it is going; even as EMT workers, but also as individuals living in this society. It is not the job of the government alone to deal with this deviant and criminal conduct.”
Additionally, each graduand was given four keys to a successful career.
“I want to suggest to you four musts if you are to perform creditably and indeed maybe successfully in the task ahead of you,” Minister Hamilton said. “You must continue to build your knowledge. Knowledge is power. There is no stopping to learning. No matter how old you are or how skillful you think you are. Continue to yearn for knowledge.”
The other three skills were: exhibit the right attitude at all times, hone your skills and inculcate positive habits.
Minister of State with responsibility for Health, Honourable Wendy Phipps, spoke to the new EMTs and nursing attendants about work ethics in terms of productivity and performance. She said that this is necessary whether it is a career in the private or public sector.
Pertaining to performance, she noted that while it is possible to have the best infrastructure, the attitude of the workers will determine how well the institution operates.
“In other words then, the Ministry of Health and by extension the Federal Government of St. Kitts and Nevis, they’re placing a serious and sacred trust in your hand, in representing their ideals, and their ambitions and their goals for healthcare provision and service in the Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis,” Minister Phipps said. “It also means that no matter how much we would have invested in your training in the large payroll that the Government has to meet at the end of the month, and find it from wherever they get it, that you could hold us to ransom if you do not give us the kind of service, through your employment that is required. The kind of service that the taxpayers of this country expect, because they pay for that service.”
Productivity was described as being able to use time and resources efficiently and all were encouraged to work together as a cohesive unit.
“You’re in a job that calls for team work and there is no “I” in team, it means that you have to rely on each other,” Minister Phipps said, noting that respect for all is critical for this to work.
She explained that performance includes confidentiality, punctuality and proper use of medical equipment. The presence of two male nurses was also applauded.
“It tells us that the dynamic and the gender lines that have traditionally characterized the nursing profession are changing,” Minister Phipps said, recalling that JNF had one male nurse in the mid-1980s.
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