Beautiful Virgin Islands

Friday, Oct 31, 2025

Amendments coming to register and license nurses locally

Amendments coming to register and license nurses locally

The government of the Virgin Islands is seeking to amend current legislation to allow for the registering and licensing of nurses and midwives within the territory.

Minister for Health Carvin Malone said this amendment was brought forward to bring the territory in line with regional and international guidelines for nursing and midwifery.

The amendment, which is titled the Nurses and Midwives Bill, will involve the regularising of other categories of nurses. It also promises to make allowances for the registration of advanced practice nurses as well as separating processes of registration and licensure and providing for different dental councils as the territory moves to re-engineer primary healthcare.

According to the minister, advanced practise nurses will be poised to offer services in the areas of vaccination, counselling, maternal and child health and chronic disease management locally.

He said: “Many of our local nurses are educated at the advanced level and may like to return home to contribute, however, not being able to register, to license and practice at the advanced levels makes the prospect unattractive to most.”

“This process makes it possible to register and license advanced practice nurses, enabling them to practice at the upper level of their training and skills and the territory can only benefit,” he added.

Advanced practise nurses include registered nurse practitioners, registered nurse anesthesiologists, clinical nurse specialists, registered public health nurses.

Certification/regulation of assistive nursing personnel


Malone also said the Bill will provide for the certification/regulation of assistive nursing personnel.

“These are persons who practice in the community and perform some nursing tasks without any regulation. The nurses and midwife council will now be charged with the regulation of these categories of staff, ensuring that they are certified to perform safely,” he stated.

The groups of assistive nursing personnel include the licensed practice nurse, the nursing assistant, the nurse technician, nurses aid, patient care assistant, and patient care technician.

Council to select educational programmes in nursing


The amended legislation according to the health minister will allow for the Nursing and Midwifery Council to consult on the establishment of educational programmes in nursing.

He said this measure ensures that training is linked to registration and licensure and that the standard of practice is consistent to the benchmarks set by the council for safe practice.

“The council will assist with educational institutions, hospitals, persons or organisations on matters pertaining to nursing, midwifery and assistive nursing education, training and practice, and to assist nursing schools and other educational institutions when requested in the development of curricular for nursing education,” Malone said.

“This will correct the current gap where persons trained at our local college will be considered for registration, certification by the council, opening up employment and possibilities to them at a wider scale,” he explained.

The Bill further provides for the conduct of disciplinary proceedings.

The Nurses and Midwives Bill 2020 is presently before the House of Assembly’s Special Select Committee where it is being assessed clause by clause.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
UK and Vietnam Sign Landmark Migration Deal to Fast-Track Returns of Irregular Arrivals
UK Drug-Pricing Overhaul Essential for Life-Sciences Ambition, Says GSK Chief
Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie Temporarily Leave the UK Amid Their Parents’ Royal Fallout
UK Weighs Early End to Oil and Gas Windfall Tax as Reeves Seeks Investment Commitments
UK Retail Inflation Slows as Shop Prices Fall for First Time Since Spring
Next Raises Full-Year Profit Guidance After Strong Third-Quarter Performance
Reform UK’s Lee Anderson Admits to 'Gaming' Benefits System While Advocating Crackdown
United States and South Korea Conclude Major Trade Accord Worth $350 Billion
Hurricane Melissa Strikes Cuba After Devastating Jamaica With Record Winds
Vice President Vance to Headline Turning Point USA Campus Event at Ole Miss
U.S. Targets Maritime Narco-Routes While Border Pressure to Mexico Remains Limited
Bill Gates at 70: “I Have a Real Fear of Artificial Intelligence – and Also Regret”
Elon Musk Unveils Grokipedia: An AI-Driven Alternative to Wikipedia
Saudi Arabia Unveils Vision for First-Ever "Sky Stadium" Suspended Over Desert Floor
Amazon Announces 14 000 Corporate Job Cuts as AI Investment Accelerates
UK Shop Prices Fall for First Time Since March, Food Leads the Decline
London Stock Exchange Group ADR (LNSTY) Earns Zacks Rank #1 Upgrade on Rising Earnings Outlook
Soap legend Tony Adams, long-time star of Crossroads, dies at 84
Rachel Reeves Signals Tax Increases Ahead of November Budget Amid £20-50 Billion Fiscal Gap
NatWest Past Gains of 314% Spotlight Opportunity — But Some Key Risks Remain
UK Launches ‘Golden Age’ of Nuclear with £38 Billion Sizewell C Approval
UK Announces £1.08 Billion Budget for Offshore Wind Auction to Boost 2030 Capacity
UK Seeks Steel Alliance with EU and US to Counter China’s Over-Capacity
UK Struggles to Balance China as Both Strategic Threat and Valued Trading Partner
Argentina’s Markets Surge as Milei’s Party Secures Major Win
British Journalist Sami Hamdi Detained by U.S. Authorities After Visa Revocation Amid Israel-Gaza Commentary
King Charles Unveils UK’s First LGBT+ Armed Forces Memorial at National Memorial Arboretum
At ninety-two and re-elected: Paul Biya secures eighth term in Cameroon amid unrest
Racist Incidents Against UK Nurses Surge by 55%
UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves Cites Shared Concerns With Trump Administration as Foundation for Early US-UK Trade Deal
Essentra plc: A Closer Look at a UK ‘Penny Stock’ Opportunity Amid Market Weakness
U.S. and China Near Deal to Avert Rare-Earth Export Controls Ahead of Trump-Xi Summit
Justin time: Justin Herbert Shields Madison Beer with Impressive Reflex at Lakers Game
Russia’s President Putin Declares Burevestnik Nuclear Cruise Missile Ready for Deployment
Giuffre’s Memoir Alleges Maxwell Claimed Sexual Act with Clooney
House Republicans Move to Strip NYC Mayoral Front-Runner Zohran Mamdani of U.S. Citizenship
Record-High Spoiled Ballots Signal Voter Discontent in Ireland’s 2025 Presidential Election
Philippines’ Taal Volcano Erupts Overnight with 2.4 km Ash Plume
Albania’s Virtual AI 'Minister' Diella Set to 'Birth' Eighty-Three Digital Assistants for MPs
Tesla Unveils Vision for Optimus V3 as ‘Biggest Product of All Time’, Including Surgical Capabilities
Francis Ford Coppola Auctions Luxury Watches After Self-Financed Film Flop
Convicted Sex Offender Mistakenly Freed by UK Prison Service Arrested in London
United States and China Begin Constructive Trade Negotiations Ahead of Trump–Xi Summit
U.S. Treasury Sanctions Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro over Drug-Trafficking Allegations
Miss USA Crowns Nebraska’s Audrey Eckert Amid Leadership Overhaul
‘I Am Not Done’: Kamala Harris Signals Possible 2028 White House Run
NBA Faces Integrity Crisis After Mass Arrests in Gambling Scandal
Swift Heist at the Louvre Sees Eight French Crown Jewels Stolen in Under Seven Minutes
U.S. Halts Trade Talks with Canada After Ontario Ad Using Reagan Voice Triggers Diplomatic Fallout
Microsoft AI CEO: ‘We’re making an AI that you can trust your kids to use’ — but can Microsoft rebuild its own trust before fixing the industry’s?
×