The Director of Nursing at the LBJ Tropical Medical Center Simamao Tuatoo is hopeful that the group of Fijian nurses will receive approval to take the NCLEX exam for New York here in the territory.
Of the 21 nurses who were hired from Fiji, only three have passed the NCLEX or National Council Licensure Examination to become licensed registered nurses who can practice in the territory.
Tuatoo explained that there’s a lot of paperwork that must be submitted to New York regarding the nurses educational qualifications and this must be obtained from Fiji. This has caused a delay on getting approval from New York.
She said having the Fijian nurses sit and pass the NCLEX will be of great help in addressing the acute nursing shortage at the LBJ Hospital. “We need 200 nurses but we only have 112,” she explained.
The Travel Nurses from the United States only work here for 12 weeks and most have finished their assignments and have left. The nurses from Thailand will also be finishing their contracts soon. Tuatoo said the hospital is looking to recruit more nurses from the Philippines, as they can work here on two year contracts.
She pointed out that while it is ideal to hire local nurses, there are not enough graduating from the ASCC nursing program so they have to hire from off island.
Tuatoo said the Fijian nurses have been a big help in the meantime, especially with taking care of patients in the wards.
She said sometimes there are only two nurses in a ward with 25 or more patients. She said, ideally, there should be 5 nurses working a shift in the wards.
