Nurses Honored with Special Breakfast During Nurses Week

Some one hundred and fifty nurses were treated to a special breakfast this morning, courtesy of the Radisson Fort George. The event, which comes as part of Belize’s celebration of International Nurses Week, was held at the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital cafeteria.  It saw nurses from various departments gathering for a well-deserved meal, including those just coming off long night shifts, others preparing to begin their day, and many simply taking the opportunity to share in the moment with colleagues.  The breakfast, prepared by the Fort George Hotel’s culinary team, featured a wide variety of items including pancakes, fried jacks, bacon, eggs, fresh fruits, yogurt, and chilled orange juice, all served as a gesture of appreciation for the tireless work carried out by nurses across the country.  Love News spoke with Kesilyn Lizama, the Director of Nursing Services at the KHMHA, on the occasion.

Kesilyn Lizama, Director of Nursing Services, KHMHA: “So this morning we’re celebrating our nurses week and with the nurse breakfast it’s a part of entire week of nurses celebration so it’s just a little token coming from the hospital. We’re partnering with the Fort George, Belize Bank to be able to provide all of these lovely items for our staff here this morning. It’s just a small way of saying thank you we appreciate the work that you are doing. It’s a time for us to gather together as nurses to say spend a little bit of a down time, we have nurses that are coming off shift, they’re coming on for the morning, some of them have come from home to be able to celebrate together. So this is the second year that we’ve partnered along with Fort George and so it’s really thankful that they’ve been able to help us out with this again. We really appreciate the partnership and it’s just a way of thanking the community for supporting nurses, for supporting the KHMHA.”

Reporter: And do you see this as something annual ? 

“Well we hope so. We hope to be able to have these continued partnerships as well as kicking of new ideas and things that we can do for nurses and how we can celebrate the nursing profession and be thankful for those who care for the wider population.”

Organizers emphasized the importance of recognizing nurses not only during this designated week, but throughout the year, highlighting the demanding nature of their profession and the critical role they play in the delivery of healthcare services.  Shauna Arnold, the Marketing Executive of the Radisson, spoke on what urged them to collaborate with the KHMHA.

Shauna Arnold, Marketing Executive, The Radisson: “So Fort George along with Belize Bank our sister company partnered or sponsored nurses week providing breakfast to over 150 nurses today at the KHMH. So with that our commitment to the nurses reflect our commitment to the community and to the care that the nurses provide to our community. And with that we wanted to give back with this small token or small gesture in providing them breakfast before they start their day or in some of their cases before they leave their night shift and then go home. Nurses form a critical part of our community in saving lives which is very similar to the hospitality industry, providing service to people and I think they do so with the utmost dedication, commitment, professionalism, so we wanted to give back to them. So this is our second year, we’re hoping that we can continue with this relationship with the KMH.”

This year’s theme for International Nurses Week is, “Our Nurses. Our Future.”  The observance continues through to May 12.