GEORGETOWN, Guyana (CMC) — The Regional Nursing Body (RNB) has agreed to a recommendation from Jamaica for a review to be conducted of the Regional Examination for Nurses Registration (RENR) as managed by the Barbados-based Caribbean Examination Council (CXC).

A communique issued Monday following last week’s RNB’s 45th annual general meeting noted that this year marked the fifth year since the RENR has been managed by CXC.

“It has been agreed that a review of this examination process would be conducted. The RENR was approved by the Conference of Ministers responsible for health in the Commonwealth Caribbean and in 1993, the first RENR was introduced. The RENR allows for standardisation and improvement of nursing education as well as reciprocity and ease-of-movement for Registered Nurses among the countries of the region,” the communique noted.

It said that the meeting had received a report on the April 2018 RENR and that in the last year “there has been an overall increase in the number of people passing the exam at the first sitting, as well as those re-sitting the examination”.

The communique noted that the education and practice sub-committees of the RNB met and reviewed a further motion on the decision regarding the number of chances to sit the RENR.

“The subcommittees in their deliberations agreed that candidates for the RENR examination would have four chances over five years to write the examination with remedial instruction being provided after the first failure.”

The communique said that the RNB ratified the recommendations of the sub-committees and has indicated that the decision is to be submitted to the Caricom ministers of health for endorsement.

The RNB said it has also developed a five-year Strategic Plan (2018-2023) based on three strategic priorities: nursing and midwifery education, practice, and leadership.

It said the strategic plan seeks to provide solutions to current challenges related to nursing and midwifery in the region, starting from the macro level and continuing down to concrete, targeted objectives and activities.

“It will assist stakeholders in achieving these objectives by way of key performance indicators spread out over a five-year timeline, and will simultaneously encourage accountability in gathering, measuring and reporting data associated with these indicators. Furthermore, it will serve as a technical guide for managers, professionals, policymakers and other leaders in the region,” the communique said, adding the plan will be finalised and presented to the Council for Human and Social Development (COHSOD).