Dear Source:
I have been following the recent articles on the current nursing situation we have on the island of St. Croix. There are a few ways of looking at this which is that we are not recruiting enough nurses at Juan Luis Hospital and we also have some trained nurses living on island who are no longer working as nurses. There should now be more nurses passing through and there should be more of a choice where our nurses can go to work.
There were three proposals for new medical schools in the United States Virgin Islands. The other Caribbean islands are a home to several offshore medical schools which have a help to their economy. In the end none of the medical school proposals for the Virgin Islands seem to have been able to work their problems out. The reason for the relative success of other schools elsewhere is that there are two relevant medical accrediting bodies, these the American Medical Association and the World Health Organization. A school inside the United States has to meet a higher set of standards and with it overhead. It would also have to have access to a completely staffed hospital.
There is an opportunity for nursing on St. Croix to collaborate with St. Kitts' medical education entrepreneur Dr. Robert Ross PhD. Dr Ross is known for his having previously founded Ross University the offshore medical school. Ross' current venture is the International University of Nursing. The new institution's campus he has constructed for it has facilities for one thousand students a year. Their program is for a two year Associates of Science in Nursing. The program requires that the second year be at an affiliated accredited corresponding school in the U.S.
Currently there are two American institutions, community colleges in Kentucky and Oklahoma which provide the second year. The capacity at IUON is still not fully utilized and lack of enough openings at second year institutions is a bottle neck. I can see that either the University of the Virgin with Juan Luis Hospital or a new private institution and a private medical facility could be a place for the second year. There is a faster expanding demand for geriatric nursing than for nursing in general. It also costs less to set up a training institution for geriatrics than for another complete hospital. St. Croix could be a place for developing supported living housing a booming sector in the States.
Having the students from IUON spending their second year would encourage many to remain. Having the existence of a new assisted geriatric residential sector for employment would also be a way to give St. Croix's trained nurses another place to exercise their skills if the do not like the politics at Luis.
Richard Bond
Boston, Mass./St. Croix
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