A total of 38 new nurses from the islands of Gran Canaria, Lanzarote and Fuerteventura will have, starting this June, the title of specialist in one of the six areas of specialized knowledge of the nursing profession. These are the new graduates who have just finished their second year as EIR (Resident Internal Nurse) in the different teaching units in charge of training specialists in Obstetric-Gynecological Nursing, Family and Community Nursing, Mental Health Nursing, Pediatric Nursing, Occupational Nursing and Geriatric Nursing in the province of Las Palmas.
The new specialists received an emotional recognition this Thursday from the Nursing Association of Las Palmas (CELP), in an event held at the Faculty of Health Sciences of the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. The residents who have just completed the specialty began their EIR training in 2023, completing two intense years of acquiring theoretical and practical knowledge tutored by the specialist professionals who make up the different teaching units. By areas of knowledge, there are 15 new midwives or specialists in Obstetric-Gynecological Nursing, 10 specialists in Family and Community Nursing, 5 in Pediatric Nursing, another 4 in Mental Health Nursing, 3 in Occupational Nursing and 1 in Geriatric Nursing.
Tribute to Elisabeth Cheneau
During the event, Elisabeth Cheneau, head of the Professional Teaching Unit of Mental Health at the University Hospital of Gran Canaria Doctor Negrín, was also honored. The president of CELP praised Cheneau's career of more than two decades as a trainer of specialists, becoming a national and international benchmark. She especially highlighted her efforts to guarantee the continuity of specialized training during the health crisis of covid-19, adapting the EIR training to the circumstances of the moment. Cheneau expressed her gratitude for the tribute and for having been able to develop her vocation of accompanying the new members of specialized nursing for so many years, a privilege for any teacher of the health professions.
Organic templates
The president of the Nursing Association of Las Palmas, Rita Mendoza, took advantage of her speech at the event to congratulate the new specialists for their training efforts and encouraged them to face their new professional challenges with a vocation for improvement and innovation. She also insisted on the need for effective recognition of specialties in the public health system through the creation of organic templates.
Currently, only obstetric-gynecological specialists – midwives – have that full consideration, while the rest, unlike other health professions, still have no place in the organization of the system. This situation prevents nursing specialists from aspiring to positions in accordance with their training and professional category and forces them to occupy general positions.
The president of CELP recalled that, according to data from the Ministry of Health itself, only 34% of specialist nurses occupy a position in accordance with their training, which represents a waste of talent, training and capacity. Mendoza expressed hope in the possibility of changing this reality through the recent Strategic Framework for Nursing Care approved this Wednesday by the Interterritorial Council of the National Health System, a document that in her opinion should have its replica in the Canary Health Service (SCS).
It is, she asserted, about extending the vision of care as a fundamental right of people so that it becomes the main priority of the health system, in accordance with the needs of today's society. The president of the nurses also demanded an increase in the places for the training of specialists that are offered in the Canary Islands.
