Six at SMMC graduate as Certified Dialysis Nurses

CAY HILL: Six registered nurses at St. Maarten Medical Center (SMMC) recently completed an accredited, in-house course and are now Certified Dialysis Nurses. The nurses, Alotoya Lawson, Chahira Jones, Shekysha Chumney, June Pascal, Zorisha Emmanuel, and Abigail Simpson, participated in an 18- month course that was organized and facilitated by the Head of SMMC’s Nursing Education Department Mr. Antonio Pantophlet and falls under the auspices of Instituto pa Formashon den Enfermeria (IFE), the nursing school of the Dutch Caribbean.

The course equips the nurses with the right knowledge and skills to carry out basic and advanced care for patients with renal failure who are undergoing dialysis. After 18 months, the nurses presented and defended their thesis in the presence of two examiners, Ms. Solaika Kook and Mrs. Deborah Lourens- Bryson from IFE, who were impressed with their performance during the final exam.

Speaking on the nurses’ achievement, Manager of Inpatient Care and Education Mr. Antonio Pantophlet said “We are extremely proud of these nurses who are now home-grown certified dialysis nurses. We would also like to thank our instructors, who were all from SMMC who took time out of their busy schedules to provide evening lectures to the students and the Dialysis team, and especially the coaches who had the responsibility of ensuring that the students achieved their learning goals and met deadlines in a timely fashion”.

SMMC’s Medical Director Dr. Felix Holiday echoed Mr. Pantophlet’s statement saying “Proud is an understatement. These nurses have spent months tirelessly learning and working and deserve this achievement. SMMC is an organization that is committed to the learning and personal and professional development of its employees. It is an honor to have employees who are not only committed to their own development but are also committed to helping us continue to provide high-quality care close to home. We congratulate these nurses as they have made themselves, their families and SMMC proud. We are also grateful to IFE in Curacao as well as our own in-house teachers, instructors, coaches, and our Education Department.