31 students recently passed the final examinations of the St. Maarten Medical Center (SMMC) Accelerated Registered Nurses Course and are now officially recognized as Registered Nurses (RN’s).
The two-year nurse’s course started on February 2017 with an enrollment of 34 nursing students and was coordinated and instructed by the Education Department of SMMC in collaboration with the ‘Instituto pa Formashon den Enfermeria’ (IFE) in Curacao. The recent graduation marks already the 5thbatch of RN students advancing from this course confirming the success of the locally educated program.
The students were former Level 3 Care Technicians (or Practical Nurses) originating from diverse institutions which included 15 nurses from SMMC, 4 from the White and Yellow Cross, 4 from Saba, 2 from St. Eustatius, 1 from Public Health, 2 from the Ambulance Department, 1 from the French side and 3 from the Mental Health Foundation.
Students defended their thesis as part of their finals on September 18th, 2019 before a delegation of local inspectors from the Education and Health Departments as well as the Examination Committee of IFE Curacao.
SMMC’s Course Coordinator/Manager Patient Care, Antonio Pantophlet, stated: “I am very proud of the accomplishments of the new appointed RN’s. On behalf of SMMC, I extend my compliments on their achievements. We are honored to be able to give our nurses the opportunity to advance their education in nursing, close to home. I would like to say a special thank you to all instructors, coaches and to the management and staff of all institutions who were so instrumental in this achievement. To the family, friends and colleagues of the 31 new graduates we thank you for your support and prayers”.
A graduation ceremony for the new RN’s was scheduled to be held on Friday September 20thhowever, due to precautionary measures taken in relation to Hurricane Jerry, this was postponed to November 1st, 2019.
