The historic opening of the Cornwall School of Nursing at Cornwall Regional Hospital in Montego Bay marked a pivotal moment in Jamaica's healthcare landscape. Established to address the shortage of nurses and to enhance rural healthcare, this new institution emphasized the all-round development of nurses. Parliamentary Secretary Anthony Capleton urged the 35 pioneering students to embrace not just clinical skills but also community engagement and productivity.

Published Wednesday, October 8, 1975

Cornwall Nursing School opens in Montego Bay

Gleaner Western Bureau

A historic occasion in the field of nursing for Jamaica was realised on Monday with the preliminary opening of the Cornwall School of Nursing at Cornwall Regional Hospital in Montego Bay.

The school is the first of its kind to be established in the rural area of Jamaica and is the third government school for general nursing. It went into operation with 35 students drawn from the county of Cornwall, but is, however, designed for the capacity of 150 and will in the future admit batches of 50 students yearly.

On Wednesday, October 22, at 4:30 p.m., the prime minister, Michael Manley, will officially declare open the school which was established to alleviate the shortage of nurses in Jamaica, as well as to encourage nurses to remain in rural hospitals.

Head tutor for the new institution is John Davis. He was in charge of the Nurses Training School at the Princess Margaret Hospital. His assistants are Sister Pearline Cooper-Sharpe, Sister Violet Dickson and Sister Barbara Fennell.

Anthony Capleton, parliamentary secretary in the Ministry of Health, in giving the charge to the pioneers, told them to think of the day as very significant, not only for them, but for the county, the region and the country.

Ancient

The nursing profession, he stated, was ancient and honourable. Ancient, in that it had its foundation laid by a number of persons years ago, and honourable because through the ages there had been great respect and admiration for nurses.

He called on the students to aim at and maintain standards worthy of emulation.

They were also to note that the duties of a nurse extended far beyond the walls of the institution.

“Too often nurses on completion of their studies forget their sources of training which is made available through tax-payers’ money. Try to develop that personal contact which is necessary for a successful profession, by not neglecting the little people, in the small villages,” he stated.

One of the main ingredients to be injected in the training programme, the parliamentary secretary said, was the question of total development of the nurse not only to learn and assist in diagnosis, but to take an interest in community activities, a role which had been neglected over the years.

He stressed the principle of productivity and told the students that as history creators in the field of nursing in Cornwall, they were to also make history by setting the pace in the quality of productivity and uphold the dignity of the profession.

Lot to offer

Dr. Anthony DeSouza, senior medical officer of health (regional) told the gathering that the school, which was a part of the Health Ministry development programme, had proven that Kingston was no longer the centre of Jamaica. There was proof that Montego Bay had a lot to offer in the medical, as well as other professions, he said.

Other speakers who expressed their enthusiasm at the reality of the school were Dr. Ludlow Burke, senior medical officer for Cornwall Regional Hospital; Mrs L. Hunter Scott, principal nursing officer in the Ministry of Health, Dr. A. C. Marsh; Matron Ivy Williams; and Headley Cunningham, vice-chairman of the Cornwall Hospital management board.

They also lauded the tutors for taking on the challenge to train the students and wished them success.

The programme which opened with prayer by Rev. C. S. Reid was chaired by Mr. F. H. Duncanson, hospital administrator for Cornwall.

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