GPHC’s Nursing Supervisors, management differ over senior official’s appointment

Last Updated on Tuesday, 5 May 2015, 15:38 by GxMedia

A number of Senior Nursing Supervisors at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) are peeved that they have been overlooked for the position of Assistant Director of Nursing Services, but a senior official of that health care institution insists that the new office-holder is qualified for the post.

A source close to the supervisors said several of them are in sick-out until Wednesday after which they would decide on intensifying the industrial action by calling out the Ward Managers.  There are conflicting accounts about whether it was 10 or four supervisors who reported sick on Monday.

A senior GPHC official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, played down the action by a number of the supervisors. “There is no sick-out. People are coming to work. We are functioning very well. We had a couple people who called in the normal sick-out but they were there all there yesterday and last night,” the official said.

However, a senior GPHC official stressed that Ms. Yolanda Renville’s appointment to the post of Assistant Director of Nursing Services was done in an open transparent manner by members of the GPHC’s Human Resource Department and the Board of Directors.  The supervisors, who alleged that they have been deliberately overlooked, said the requirement is two years experience in senior nursing administration. “Some of the others got degrees, others have years of experience and some others do not have degrees,” a source said.

Sources from both the Nursing Supervisors and the Hospital Administration confirmed that applicants from GPHC, who had applied, were not shortlisted for interviews. “Two senior supervisors applied but they did not meet the qualifications that were advertised so they were never interviewed. They have experience but not the qualifications,” he said.

 One applicant from Texila University was said to be qualified for the post but had no experience and was unfamiliar with the GPHC’s culture.

The senior hospital administration official countered that by saying that the qualifications were clearly spelt out in an advertisement in internally and in newspapers.

The official added that Ms. Renville was a Head Nurse at St. Joseph’s Mercy Hospital before moving to the state-run hospital.  While at GPHC, she pursued midwifery studies and read for a Degree in Nursing at the University of Guyana.

With her appointment, it now means that nurses with decades of experience would be supervised by someone they consider to very much their junior in the profession.

An Assistant Director of Nursing Services seeks to ensure that supervisors carry out their functions, quality control and other protocols are adhered to and implemented and that various sections of the hospital are adequately staffed.