By KHRISNA RUSSELL

Tribune Chief Reporter

krussell@tribunemedia.net

BAHAMAS Nurses Union president Amancha Williams wants a worker’s compensation system established to ensure the best medical care and treatment for nurses in the event of COVID-19 infection.

This system would feature medical and indemnity benefits.

In recommendations presented to Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis last week, seen by The Tribune, the BNU president appealed for nurses to receive private treatment and hospitalisation when the virus is contracted along with low cost or free hotel rooms for safety in isolation.

The union is also calling for additional leave that is required for recovery and if a worker dies from COVID-19, benefits given to the immediate family.

Since the onset of the COVID-19 crisis in The Bahamas, there has been a sense of fear and uncertainty among nurses.

As a result, other recommendations include access to adequate personal protective equipment; improved screening criteria and testing capacity to avoid further outbreaks and spread of COVID-19 and prompt sanitisation and cleaning of affected units.

The suggestions were made after Bernadette Rolle, a nurse at Sandilands Rehabilitation Centre, died from COVID-19.

Her death caught public attention after a voice note she sent to relatives detailing her deteriorating health circulated on social media. It captured the fears she had for herself and her family.

At one point she expressed hope that she would overcome the disease, saying: “…I out of the worst, I out of the worst (sic).”

Instead, she died Friday, August 21, one of ten people whose death from COVID-19 was confirmed in a week, according to information provided to The Tribune at the time.

In the recording, Nurse Rolle said the difficulty she felt breathing and eating was “scary”, likening her battle with COVID-19 to a rollercoaster ride.

Before Nurse Rolle’s death, Mrs Williams said some nurses were burnt out and discouraged from volunteering their services due to the way health officials are organising the country’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Mrs Williams said nurses are willing to work, but are tired of the way they have been treated during the course of the outbreak.

Mrs Williams also told this newspaper there was a lack of information regarding the protocol of employee health and what would happen if a worker got exposed to the virus.

Her recommendations last week also call for something to be done to limit exposure.

These include the standardisation of care throughout each health facility in the country, continued education and dissemination for information to all nurses as changes are made, minimising the float out of nurses from their units to other areas and the ongoing training for proper use of PPEs.