Caribbean Nurses on the Frontline

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By Leonard McKenzie


PON DI FRONTLINE. (l-r), RN Nurses Denise Allen (Jamaica) Luceine Fergusson (Barbados) are thankful to be alive and well in NYC, once the epicenter of the COVID 19 Pandemic.
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NEW YORK, NY. Wednesday, May 27, 2020 -- At the time when New York City was the epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic, the county of Brooklyn, like the rest of the country, the immigrant community supplied the majority of the workers on the front line including those deemed ‘essential’ in the fight to contain the virus.

In the Midwood section of Brooklyn, you can find New York Community Hospital. A small, 134-bed, non-profit, acute care hospital, bursting with majority of immigrant workers, with approximately a third of which are essential workers of Caribbean ancestry, including a large percentage of RN nurses.

A clinical partner of Maimonides Medical Center, this hospital continues its strong relationship to a diverse community in health care services.

This hospital has experienced its share of COVID -19 patients and casualty. With those Caribbean immigrant nurses like all other nurses, they too don their nurse’s uniform and continue to face the COVID-19 pandemic daily. They too, had their profession challenged and their faith tested. Along with their standard responsibilities as nurses, they were also tasked as patient advocates and family surrogates because of COVID -19.

 “We are not prepared for a disaster of this magnitude, at least not in my lifetime, I have been through the AID’s crisis.  In the beginning, like most institutions, we were lacking PPE and when the administration saw what we were working with, they really stepped up and that gave us confidence. We went into life-saving mode, we won some, we lost some, we are resilient”, says Denise Allen of Jamaica.

These nurses showed bravery and empathy. They showed what Caribbean nationals have always done for this city, state, and country.

They are using their training to the best for humanity. They are on the front-lines, so, we wait to see if they will be honored or ignored

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Comments

  1. UnknownMay 27, 2020 at 12:25 PM

    With God it is possible my sis Denise. Be safe with all your colleagues

    ReplyDelete

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