GPH oncology room reopens, nurses trained

The graduating nurses from the week-long training in oncology at the Georgetown Hospital in the company of OSHAG President Carol Trim-Bagot (standing, left), Oncologist Dr Theophilus Lewis (standing, right), OSHAG Health Care Coordinator Kareen Lambert (stooping, right) and other OSHAG members.

The Georgetown Public Hospital’s (GPH) Oncology Room was reopened on Friday during a simple ceremony that also marked the culmination of a one-week oncology training programme for nurses, who received certificates, while a call for annual training to be offered was made.

The project was done by the Organisation for Social and Health Advancement in Guyana (OSHAG) in collaboration with the GPH and Caribbean Medical Mission (CMM).

According to President of OSHAG, Carol Trim-Bagot, OSHAG collaborated with the GPH to open up the Oncology room. She said that training for nurses from the oncology department, was provided by Nurses Latisha Smith, Rose Mason and Stacy Farrell, all of whom are attached to the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center New York, USA. Local nurses benefited from a four-day (20 hours) training on how to administer chemotherapy and safety precautions for both patient and nurses. Trim-Bagot said the programme will be sustained by OSHAG, in collaboration with the GPH. “To ensure that we continue to bring in the right equipment that they need, furnishing of the room with more modern chairs and other things that they need,” she explained.

Arlene Trim, a nurse attached to St Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital, USA, was also part of the visiting team. Trim-Bagot said that Trim