Ministry of Health confirms 120 Ghanaian nurses for Barbados job

The Ministry of Health (MoH) has confirmed that some 120 Ghanaian nurses have been selected to serve a two-year contract in Barbados.

The number is out of the almost 600 applicants who expressed interest in the program to serve at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Bridgetown, in the Carribean country.

The Ministry together with officials from Barbados conducted a series of interviews for 150 shortlisted applicants before arriving at the final number for the Barbados nursing job.

The interviews began on Monday, November 10 and ended on Friday, November 15.

Mr Elorm Ametepe, Public Relations Officer in an interview said 598 nurses applied for the opportunity out of which 150 of them were shortlisted for the interview.

However, 120 out of the shortlisted were granted the opportunity to serve in various sectors of the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in the Island Nation, he stated.

“The final number of nurses to be engaged was not reached solely by the Ministry but in consultation with representatives and the Government of Barbados,” he added.

He said the total number includes 12 cardiac care nurses, 21 critical care nurses, eight emergency room nurses, six operating theatre nurses, three ophthalmic nurses and 70 registered general nurses.

The Barbados nursing job initiative came to the fore when President Nana Akufo-Addo in June paid a day’s working visit to the Carribean Island and held bilateral talks with the Barbados Prime Minister, Mia Amor Mottley, where she expressed the need for Ghanaian nurses to solve its shortage of professional nurses in hospitals.