COBBLA, Manchester — With hard work and dedication, Knox Community College nursing student, Addonique Fearon, earned the top spot in her academics from over 100 students who took part in a recent “Striping and Awards” ceremony at the institution.

The petite second-year student achieved a grade point average (GPA) of 4.0, the highest among her peers for the 2018-2019 period, semester one.

Fearon told journalists that she is goal-oriented and always has a plan.

“I live by the motto ‘the heights of great men reached and kept were not attained by sudden flight, but while their companions slept, they were toiling upwards in the night’.

“I will always have my study timetable, which is placed above my bed, I ensure that I stick by it at all times,” she informed.

Fearon credits her mother for her discipline.

“I got this type of discipline from my mother. From a tender age she is like the only one in my life, so she basically groomed me for this world,” she said.

A day with historical significance to mark the progress of trainees in the nursing field, other students proudly walked away with awards and the confidence that they will be change agents in health care delivery, the theme for the occasion.

President of the Nurses Association of Jamaica, Carmen Johnson, urged that they work towards their profession with the aim to “start a pandemic of good values and attitudes”.

“Change agents in health care delivery know how to communicate at all levels. A major complaint we hear daily is that ‘nurses nuh know how fi talk to people, they don’t know how to deal with people.’

Johnson told the student nurses that patience to repeat information to those they serve as many times as possible will be required to ensure that the message is understood.

She implored the nursing students to not be afraid to ask questions of their colleagues and also share what they know.

Deputy chief nursing officer in the Ministry of Health, Karen Briscoe-Nelson, in a spirited address, emphasised the need for preparedness.

“Some changes are very hard but the change process can be manageable if the agent of change is prepared and ready and have the requisite skills to carry out the functions,” she informed.

Briscoe-Nelson said that the coaching and mentorship that the students are now receiving are critical to how effective they will be in making a difference but noted that first and foremost the desire must come from within.

She reinforced that in the end what matters most is that the health care system is able to deliver quality service to the public. Advocacy from different stakeholders is a critical component in the overall results.

Regional director in Ministry of Education Youth and Information Region 6, Barrington Richardson, on behalf of acting permanent secretary Dr Grace McLean, lauded Knox Community College administrators for exposing the nursing students to a “rich curriculum”.