Nurse Rosie Felix said nurses and midwives play crucial roles in healthcare. She said nurses and midwives are two sides of the same coin. The professional nurse made the statement in furtherance of the ongoing celebration of nurses and midwives in Dominica.
Nurse Felix said it is important to distinguish between the two since people make the mistake of thinking they are the same profession. She said nurses are different from midwives even though their jobs are similar and interlap in certain areas.
“Midwives do some of the things that nurses do, and nurses also do some of the things that midwives do,” Nurse Felix explained. “But the midwife’s work is different to a great extent because she has to have a separate license to practise. A nurse cannot do the work of a midwife and call herself a midwife; it is two separate professions.”
Even then, the World Health Organization (WHO) is tasking governments around the world to recognize midwifery as a separate profession.
Felix credits nurses for their important roles in universal healthcare, and said midwives are indispensable in any health clinic or hospital.
“Regardless of where you live in the world, you should have access to doctors, nurses, and midwives. Nurses and midwives are the heartbeat…the nerve-centre of the health industry,” Felix said. “A healthcare system without adequate number of nurses and midwives will have negative delivery of sufficient healthcare services.”
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