SOUTH FLORIDA – The advent of the novel coronavirus has brought a halt to many pre-approved plans for 2020 and has made it virtually impossible to execute the usual health missions to Jamaica every year.
The Jamaica Diaspora Health Taskforce (JDHT), part of the Jamaica Diaspora Taskforce Action Network (JDTAN) is seeking to add value to the Jamaican healthcare landscape despite this challenge by collaborating with the Nurses Association of Jamaica (NAJ), and the Jamaica Nurses Association of Florida (JNAF), to host a series of online seminars or JAMINARS for various members of the healthcare community.
Two Health JAMINARS are currently scheduled:
- August 20, 2020 – 4 pm ET – 5 pm Jamaica time
- September 17, 2020 – 11 am to 5 pm Jamaica time.
The Jamaican Health Community can join the JAMINARS by registering online at www.jdtan.org
Newly minted Chair of the Jamaica Diaspora Health Taskforce Dr. Beverly Gordon is excited about the JAMINARS. She stated, “I am so happy for the technology that allows us to reach out to collaborate with healthcare professionals even though we can’t be physically present.”
Dr. Gordon holds a Bachelor’s degree in Nursing Education and has practiced nursing for 20 years. She is excited about the cadre of presenters that have joined forces to be a part of the Health JAMINARS. She believes this is a testimony of the strength of the Diaspora and the commitment of both internal and external stakeholders who are unequivocal in their efforts to give back to Jamaica.
The Jamaica Diaspora Health Taskforce members consist of diverse medical practitioners including physicians, nurses, pharmacists, nutritionists, and healthcare educators that span the breadth of the medical community across the Diaspora. The Taskforce is committed to the vision of a healthy Jamaican society.
The sessions will focus on the following areas:
- Session 1: COVID-19 and Pregnancy: What you need to know – Obstetric Emergencies: Hypertensive Disease
- Session 2: Nursing and Leadership
- Session 3: Interpersonal Skills for Nurses and other Healthcare Professionals
- Session 4: The Presentation of an Addict
- Session 5: Workplace Stress and Self- Care for Nurses
- Session 6: An Introduction to Transplant Surgical Nursing Care
Leo Gilling Chairman of JDTAN commented “that Dr. Gordon has developed a very strong plan for the Health Taskforce focusing on building capacity, creating partnerships and needs assessment to bolster the Healthcare sector in Jamaica. This is a great example of the impact possible through strong collaboration between Jamaica and the Diaspora.”
When asked Dr. Gordon’s anticipated outcome of the sessions, she added, “The sessions are intended to be informative and useful and support our Healthcare workers in finding the energy and motivation to continue their delivery of excellent care for all Jamaicans.”
JDHT Vice-Chair, Miss Marcia Amarsingh added that “healthcare workers will benefit from learning new information, broadening their scope of practice and earning CEU certificates towards their licensure.”
