By LEANDRA ROLLE

Tribune Chief Reporter

lrolle@tribunemedia.net

THE national nurse shortage has been cut in half, with most remaining vacancies in specialised nursing roles, Health and Wellness Minister Dr Michael Darville said on Friday.

He said the government plans to recruit nurses from abroad while continuing to train nurses at the University of The Bahamas (UB) to address the shortfall.

He said graduating classes from the University of the Bahamas have produced about 80 nurses per class, helping to fill critical gaps.

However, he said nurses sometimes face a two-to-three-year lag when being specially trained.

In August, Dr Darville told reporters that the public health system was short about 450 nurses, including more than 170 specialist nurses.

However, he said the shortage has now decreased to 200, with most of the vacancies in specialist roles.

Concerns about the long-standing nurse shortage have resurfaced as the Davis administration prepares to build a new speciality hospital in the Perpall Tract area of New Providence and a new hospital in Grand Bahama.

Addressing concerns over staffing these facilities, Dr Darville said: “The Bahamian people can rest assured that on completion of both hospitals, we will not create white elephants. We are recruiting doctors and nurses from abroad, and we are sending Bahamians abroad for postgraduate training.”

“My only red flag is that sometimes when we send them abroad, they do not return home. That is a difficult thing to swallow, but trust me, we have excused our short-, medium-, and long-term plan.”

He noted that nursing shortages are not unique to The Bahamas but affect the entire Caribbean. He added: “We are constantly coming together as a unit to speak to the United States government, asking them not to recruit so heavily in our jurisdiction.”

“Taking 40 nurses from The Bahamas can almost destabilise our system, and so we are constantly fighting back and recruiting from abroad.”