By Stabroek News August 14, 2025
The Caribbean Community’s (CARICOM) nursing body has expressed concern over the shortage of nurses in the region caused mainly by migration to wealthier countries to take advantage of better pay and benefits, which ultimately would affect the quality of health care the region can offer.
A CARICOM release yesterday said that the issues of the critical shortage of nurses in the Region and the resulting impacts on the health sector of CARICOM Member States are major concerns of policymakers and the Regional Nursing Body (RNB) and were the common thread of speakers at the opening on Tuesday, August 12, of the 52nd Annual General Meeting of the RNB in Barbados
Discussions centred on the anticipated increase in the need for nurses and midwives, and the need for guidance and action to mitigate the impacts of the shortage. Agenda items for the three-day meeting included developing an action plan to address the migration and mobility of health workers in the Region, a review of the State of the World’s Nurs-ing Report 2025 (SOWN 2025), new developments in nursing, and the results of the April 2025 sitting of the Regional Examination for Nurse Registration.
Minister of Health and Wellness of Barbados, Dr Jerome Walcott, who delivered the feature address, lauded the achievements of the RNB and called on the body to lead the transformation of the nursing profession.
“The RNB now stands at a critical crossroad. You are not only being called upon to sustain the gains of the past, but to lead the transformation of the profession, to shape new models of care and to prepare our nursing workforce to face complex health challenges ahead which include, of course, ‘Dr. Google’ and the worrisome effects of climate change.”
Dr Walcott pointed to the “troubling trends” and “growing concerns” about nurse retention and called for courage and collaboration in charting the course ahead. He noted that too many nurses were leaving for “greener pastures” with the issue becoming more acute in recent years. He acknowledged that the small developing states that make up CARICOM, simply cannot match the salaries and benefit packages offered by the larger, wealthier nations. “As a result, we are facing staffing shortages that increase nurse to patient ratios, create longer shifts which can lead to stress and burn out in some cases, and ultimately can compromise the quality of patient care.”
Meanwhile, Assistant Secretary-General, Human and Social Development at the CARICOM Secretariat, Alison Drayton, who also spoke at the AGM, highlighted the “critical shortage of these indispensable health professionals.” She cited the SOWN Report, which informed that globally, one in seven nurses was practising outside of the country of their birth, underscoring a growing dependence on foreign-born nurses within high-income countries.
“This dynamic poses significant challenges to the development and sustainability of health systems in low- and middle-income countries like those within our Region. Accordingly, it is imperative that the Region substantially increase its investments in the education, recruitment, and retention of nurses and midwives to safeguard the resilience and effectiveness of our health workforce.”
And Chair of the Regional Nursing Body and Chief Nursing Officer of the Ministry of Health, Wellness and Religious Affairs of Grenada, Nester Edwards, echoed the warning of the consequences if gaps are not filled.
“While they are among the largest, if not the largest, segment of the workforce in our healthcare systems, the Region continues to face a perennial shortage of nurses and midwives with high attrition rates and migration to more developed countries. According to the SOWN 2025 report, we are unlikely to achieve the targets for universal health coverage if the gap in these shortages is not filled.”
To counter this issue, Edwards called for redoubled efforts to find effective strategies to recruit and retain nurses and midwives, including those in the diaspora. “Improving working conditions and utilising technological advancements and incentives, including flexible working hours, should be considered when developing these strategies.”
The RNB chair also urged capacity-building of the next generation of nurses and midwives in leadership, policy development, strategic planning and research, the release added.
Source: Stabroek News
Read CARICOM’s press release on this topic here: Calls for more investment in nurses as shortage hurts Region – CARICOM