Content Page
Nurses and Midwives council of Belize Jurisdictions, per--, and disciplinary jurisdiction.
- Introduction
- Nursing Education
- The Register of the Nurses and Midwives Council
- Statutory Nurses (a)
- Statutory Nurses (b)
- Nurses and Midwives Council Registrations Act
- Statutory and Standing Committees
- Conclusion
NURSES’ AND MIDWIVES’ COUNCIL OF BELIZE
FUNCTIONS, PROCEDURE, AND DISCIPLINARY JURISDICTION
INTRODUCTION
This account of the Council’s functions, procedure and disciplinary jurisdiction is intended primarily for the information of nurses who have recently been admitted to the Register of Nurses maintained by the Council.
The general duty of the Council, established under the Nurses and Midwives’ Act, 1963, is to protect the public, in particular by supervision and improving nursing education, by conducting examinations for nurses, by keeping a Register and Register of duly qualified nurses and Midwives, and by taking disciplinary action when required in cases of convictions or misconduct.
For admission to the Register the registrant must have completed a program of basic generalized nursing education from a recognized School of Nursing.
The Council receives funds from fees and fines under the Nurses’ and Midwives’ Act. Monies are received from fees collected from biennial renewal of nursing licenses, nursing examinations, and any other monies lawfully received by the Council. Monies are also received from monthly subvention from the Government of Belize.
NURSING EDUCATION
The Council approves, as training schools for nurses, institutions which meet the minimum requirements laid down by the Council for such approval, draw up the syllabuses of subjects for examination, lay down requirements relating to minimum age and educational standard of entry to training, and is responsible for the conduct of licensure examinations.
The Council in cooperation with the Regional Nursing Body sets and maintains standards for nursing in Belize and other CARICOM countries. The ultimate objective is provision of a sufficient number of adequately prepared nursing personnel to meet the healthcare needs of the country.
THE REGISTER OF THE NURSES’ AND MIDWIVES’ COUNCIL
Under the 1963 Act, the Council was required to establish and maintain a Register of Nurses and Midwives. The Register contains the names, registration number, date of registration, and address of each registrant. The Registers are kept at the offices of the Council and are required to be open to inspection by any person during business hours. It is the duty of every Nurse to notify the Council of any change of permanent address and added professional qualifications.A change of name by marriage or otherwise should also be notified, and in such case the necessary documents (marriage certificate) must be submitted.
STATUTORY OFFENCES
Any person who takes or uses any name, title, description, uniform or badge; implying that such person is registered as a nurse or midwife when not so registered is guilty of an offence and upon
conviction shall be liable to a fine not exceeding $500. Also, a person who claims the title of “Nurse” without being registered or without falling within one of the categories listed in the Nurses’ and Midwives’ Act, may be prosecuted by the Council, subject to the consent of the Solicitor General, and if found guilty is liable to a similar fine. Anyone who “willfully makes, or causes to be made, a falsification in a matter relating to the Register,” is liable to a maximum fine of $500.
(a)General
The Council fully realizes and appreciates the high standard of conduct of the vast majority of all the categories of nurses in this country who will never find themselves directly concerned with the disciplinary jurisdiction of the Council. Yet circumstances may arise in which a nurse may be confronted with such a situation; this part of the pamphlet therefore, provides a brief explanation of the disciplinary work carried out by the Council.
The Council has power to take disciplinary action against all categories of nurses if it is brought to its attention, whether through the Courts, employing authorities, or individuals, that the nurse has been guilty of a felony or misdemeanor, or of any misconduct which warrants considerations as to whether her name should be removed from the Register.
In the first instance, the nurse is invited to submit a written statement in regard to the offence and the matter is then considered by the Council. If it is agreed that sufficient evidence has been submitted to justify the matter being reported to the Council, and that the offence is of a sufficientlyserious nature to justify such further investigation, the nurse is informed that she will be required to attend the hearing of her case at the next meeting of the Disciplinary Committee. This is done in order to determine the type of disciplinary measure that will be carried out against the nurse.
Under the Act the Disciplinary Committee is not called upon to punish, in any sense of retribution. Their primary duty is to protect the public. In difficult cases the first question in the Committee’s mind must be, “is it in the public interest to leave this nurse on the Register”? Subject however, to their overriding duty to the public, members of the Committee may and do constantly ask themselves, “what is in the best interest of the nurse”?
(b)The procedure followed at the hearing of a case before the Disciplinary Committee
The Committee normally sits privately with the nurse to ascertain whether he/she is subject to any disciplinary proceedings, and has violated the International Council of Nurses’ Code of Ethics, the Regional Code of ethics for Nurses or By-laws of the Nurses’ Association of Belize. Witnesses may be subpoenaed, and evidence can be given on oath. The nurse is entitled to be represented by Counsel, by a Solicitor, a member of professional organization, or by a friend. The nurse is also invited to submit medical and other evidence in mitigation of the offence if this is found proved. If the nurse fails to attend, the case may be heard in his/her absence. If the nurse is receiving treatment as an in-patient, or is mentally or physically incapacitated, the hearing of the case is deferred until, in the opinion of his/her medical advisers, she is well enough to attend if he/she so wishes.
After hearing the facts of the case as submitted by the Disciplinary Committee, and affording the nurse and or his/her representatives an opportunity of speaking, members of the Council asks such questions as they wish and then privately deliberate on their decision. They have five alternative ways of dealing with the case if the offence is found proved: deny further registration or revoking or suspending license on terms and condition, submission to counseling, treatment or care by a person or agency identified and designated by the Council, requiring the person to practice under direct supervision of a nurse identified by the Council for that purpose or impose a fine.
A person whose name has been removed from the Register may within ninety days from the date of receipt of the notice or refusal or removal, submit an appeal against the decision of the Council to the Disciplinary Tribunal.
The Minister of Health shall appoint a Disciplinary Tribunal to hear and determine any appeal, and on every appeal the Tribunal shall give its decision in writing to be published in the Gazette.
A nurse, who finds him/herself the subject of court proceedings, must realize that the matter will be brought to the attention of the Council; as his/her professional status may be jeopardized, he/she is strongly advised to seek legal council before his/her case is heard by the Court. The obtaining of a Solicitor for court proceedings is at the person’s own expense.
When a nurse has been found guilty of an offence in a Court of Law, the matter is reported to the Council by the Police Authorities. The Disciplinary Committee is bound by law to accept a conviction as conclusive evidence that the nurse was in fact guilty of the offence; it is not open to a nurse to contend at the hearing before the Committee that he/she was in fact innocent of the offence of which he/she was convicted, or that he/she was convicted only because he/she had pleaded in order to avoid publicity or for some other reason. Similarly where a nurse has been found guilty in a Court of Law but has been conditionally discharged, the Disciplinary Committee still has the power to consider the case as one of misconduct and the nurse cannot contend that she was innocent of the offence.
CONSTITUTION OF THE COUNCIL
The original constitution of the Council, which was first laid down in the 1923 Act was revised under the 1980, 1989 Act, and again under the Nurses Act 2000.
Under present legislation the Council consists of 13 members, the Chief Nursing Officer; the Director of Nursing Services, Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital; the Chairperson of the Department of Nursing- University of Belize; the Supervisor of Public Health Nurses; the Inspector of Midwives; the Matron Grade 11; the Senior Public Health Nurse; the President of the Nurses Association of Belize; three members of the Nurses Association of Belize, one of whom shall be a nurse with an expanded role, elected according to the rules set out in the Second Schedule; and two representatives of the public, one of whom shall be a professional nurse, appointed by the Minister of Health.
The names of the persons appointed by the Minister of Health and the members of the Nurses Association of Belize, elected by financial members of the Association from among their member in accordance with the rules set out in the Second Schedule, shall be published by the Registrar of the Council in the Gazette.
The elected and the appointed or elected members of the Council shall hold office for a term of three years from the expiry of the term of office of their predecessors in office. Elected members may at any time before the expiration of their term be removed by a resolution of the Nurses Association of Belize.
STATUTORY AND STANDING COMMITTEES
The Council elects each year, from among their own number, members to serve on the following Standing Committees – Education Committee, Practice Committee and Disciplinary Committee. All committees submit their reports and recommendations to the subsequent meeting of Council.
CONCLUSION
The purpose of this pamphlet has been to enumerate the duties laid upon the Nurses and Midwives Council of Belize, and to describe the ways in which those duties are carried out. No mention has yet been made of the person who provides the fundamental reason for the Council’s existence – the patient. Throughout all the various aspects of their work, it is the continual aim of the Council, “a body corporate with perpetual succession,” to establish and maintain a standard of nurse training throughout the country which will produce a nurse capable not only of undertaking the total nursing care of patients but of encouraging patients back to full health. The nurse teaches persons and the publicabout the promotion of health and the prevention of sickness. On occasion, it may seem to those whose first responsibility lies towards providing a nursing service within the hospitals that the council’s requirements lead to staffing difficulties, but each of these requirements is framed with a view to securing adequate nursing care for the patient. The responsibility for maintaining the standard of nursing, and upholding the status of the nursing profession, lies not only with the Council but with each Nursing Practitioner.