NAJ to lobby Gov’t for Prime Minister’s Medal of Appreciation
Published:Friday | September 30, 2022 | 12:05 AMAlbert Ferguson/Gleaner Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
PRESIDENT OF the Nurses Association of Jamaica (NAJ), Patsey Edwards-Henry, says the group will be seeking to have more of its members recognised for their services nationally, including with the establishment of a Prime Minister’s Medal of Appreciation for Nursing.
“We don’t have that for nurses, and that is one of the things we are going to be lobbying for,” said Edwards-Henry, who was re-elected as the association’s president last Friday to serve her third consecutive term.
“We have a number of nurses who have served and have never been recognised for 20, 30, 40 and 50 years, so we are going to lobby the Government to have it established,” she told The Gleaner following the NAJ’s 76th annual general meeting.
According to the NAJ president, nurses work tirelessly and under extenuating circumstances to ensure that Jamaicans remain healthy, and are deserving of much more than the handful of awards for nurses on National Heroes Day.
“We realise that we don’t get a lot of recognition. It came out in COVID-19, where people have started to recognise nurses. But we, as a body, need to recognise our own, so we are looking at our nurses across the island and across the specialities this year, so that on Heroes Day, you will not only hear of one nurse, but a cohort of nurses who get an award of merit, something to let the population know that we are here,” the NAJ president said.
The Prime Minister’s Medal of Appreciation was introduced in 1983 as a part of celebrations to mark Jamaica’s 21st anniversary of Independence.
Calls then for nominations for the award outlined that “nominees must have a proven record of outstanding service and have made a significant contribution to the economic, social, cultural or political development of Jamaica”. Nominees were to be reviewed on the basis of how they have made the contribution through innovation, creativity, and especially community involvement.
The categories are academia, business, entrepreneurship, agriculture, art and culture and medicine.
The Prime Minister’s Medal of Appreciation for Service to Education was instituted by a proclamation issued by the governor general on June 20, 2005.
Awardees are selected by a committee comprising officials from across the education sector and based on a points system under predetermined criteria. Persons who are recommended and receive the highest number of points are selected for the prestigious honour.
Like teachers, the nation’s youth are also recognised with the Prime Minister Youth Award of Excellence in various fields, covering sports, youth in service, academics, agriculture, arts and culture, journalism, and entrepreneurship.
The award, which was established in 1998, recognises youth who have excelled and contributed to national development, and seeks to provide a platform for youth to showcase their achievements.
Last year, Edwards-Henry issued a call for a special award to be created in recognition and honour of nurses, to be given nationally to those who have gone above and beyond the call of duty in managing the COVID-19 pandemic.
Asked about its status, the NAJ president said several nurses were recognised by the Ministry of Health and Wellness.
“When they had the Health Workers’ Appreciation Week, a number of workers and healthcare workers benefited from being awarded and recognised,” she admitted.
She also shared that a monument is to be erected with the names of all their colleagues who died during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Three months ago, the Ministry of Health and Wellness launched the inaugural observation of Healthcare Workers Appreciation Month. It was proclaimed by Governor General Sir Patrick Allen that the month of July is observed and celebrated as Healthcare Workers Appreciation Month.
The month-long celebrations featured a series of events and activities, including the observance of National Appreciation Day on July 13.