Four student nurses training at the Barbados Community College (BCC) received scholarships for their outstanding academic performance and community involvement.Second-year student Mark Yearwood and third-year students Lian Clarke and Shakera Layne received the Eunice Coppin Award while second-year student Aldaro Blackman was the recipient of the Lydia Bedford Award.To qualify for the scholarships, students were required to have a high grade point average, be involved in a school and community activity, and write a compelling essay about why they were deserving of the scholarship.They received$1 000 each, a Barbados Nurses Association of America (BNAA) journal to commemorate the organisation’s 55th anniversary, and a special token, all compliments of the BNAA.
Nine months after a promise that they would once more get a Government stipend to ease the financial burden of full time study, student nurses are yet to receive the money.And the Barbados Nurses’ Association (BNA), management of the Barbados Community College (BCC) and student nurses themselves are hoping that the current administration will make good on its promise.Last February, Minister of Health and Wellness Ian Gooding-Edghill announced that Government would re-introduce the stipend some eight years after it was stopped and at a cost to taxpayers of $2 million annually.On Monday following a scholarship award ceremony at the college, members of the nursing community renewed the call for the financial help.