CHC ignores good service of the Fiji midwives

The enforcement of NCLEX at the Commonwealth Health Center by the nursing board headed by Rosa Tudela has affected the good work of many nurses, and has especially resulted in the resignation of some Fiji midwives. The very strict rules of passing the NCLEX on the first sitting or it will be the end of the renewal of their contract ignores the local mothers’ needs and the professional services that the midwives have already shown.

This sudden implementation of the ruling by the nursing board minimized and ignored the professional and good work of the Fiji midwives who, even without the NCLEX requirement, performed their duties well, and were appreciated by many mothers on Saipan. The purported reason for this new NCLEX requirement was to bring the level of nursing care at CHC at par with the United States but how could this be implemented since the salary levels and conditions of work are so different?

It is so sad to notice that some U.S. nurses who have already passed the NCLEX are called into CHC to do the work that used to be the midwives’ responsibility but on a training basis. Why would the nursing board refuse the services of those who are already experienced to do that important work?

We also noticed that the total number of nurses required in the delivery unit was 18 but only 12 are scheduled to work; they would then call on the off-duty nurses to do overtime.

The latest resignations will decrease the number of midwives in the labor and delivery ward, bringing the number to just eight—including an American nurse who is still undergoing training. These eight nurses could not manage the busy work in this particular section. The head nurse in the delivery section should cry out and fight, recommend, and support the hard work of the Fiji midwives. She should highlight the difficulties that would happen if we lose these midwives, particularly since she has associated with these people and has worked with them for a long time and knows their quality and skills.

Even a local midwife, Mrs. Roca, who is also a member of the nursing board, should speak out and raise all the correct information about the quality of work of these Fiji midwives because it would be impossibly to deny the great assistance they have always offered to Saipan mothers .

This is the correct time to share genuine information for the help our mothers or otherwise it will be too late. In our investigation, we found out that, even in this time of nursing shortage in this particular ward, the Fiji nurses managed to deliver babies one after another without surrender just to resolve the problem of nursing shortages.

The delivery method at the CHC has already achieved great improvement in the time that the Fiji midwives have worked there in the last 20 years. The transfer of mothers to Guam and Hawaii came to a halt. Because of their excellent performances, they managed to complete all delivery schedules, no matter if there is a nursing shortage. They are also not just midwives but are also experienced and qualified to handle any section within the hospital.

It is difficult to believe how easy it was for the nursing board to ignore the good assistance given by the Fiji midwives to Saipan mothers by implementing this new requirement.

Because of their experience in work, they had been promised by the government in 2003 that they can remain and work on Saipan for as long as they wish to stay. This basically shows the good work they have done to Saipan mothers. At the same time, they continued to work without any pay raise for many years but they remained silent and respected the authorities. They need to stay on Saipan for long time but the enforcement of NCLEX has resulted in them being displaced.

They hope, though, that their replacements will do better then what they have done and experienced. They wish to extend their thanks to all mothers on Saipan—especially the local ones—who always give out a word of good appreciation for their work. They said they cannot do much as the authority and orders must be obeyed and respected at all times.

We all understand and strongly believe that good qualifications are important for the care of people. And the higher salaries for professional workers are for the good services that are required in caring for the local people. Lives are important and cannot be bought by silver or gold.

Thank you.

William Kiong
San Vicente