Patient Care Assistant

Mission and objectives

UN Women, grounded in the vision of equality enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations, works for the elimination of discrimination against women and girls; the empowerment of women; and the achievement of equality between women and men as partners and benefi-ciaries of development, human rights, humanitarian action and peace and security. UN Women MCO-Caribbean (MCO) covers 22 English and Dutch-speaking countries and territories in the Caribbean. The MCO currently maintains a physical presence in five (5) countries but there remains high and consistent demand for the exercise of UN Women’s integrated mandate across the 22 countries and territories. The MCO Caribbean 2022 -2025 programme builds on the works of the 2017-2021 Strategic Note with a focus on the Normative Framework (Proposed Outcome 1), Women’s Economic Empowerment (Proposed Outcomes 2 and 3), Ending Violence against Women and Girls (Proposed Outcome 4) and Climate Change and Disaster Risk Resilience (Proposed Outcome 5). All the Outcomes like the SDGs are interconnected and interrelated. The MCO will focus on Governance and Participation in Public Life across all Outcome Areas and Peace and Security within the context of Outcomes 4 and 5.

Context

In September 2017, the EU and the UN launched an ambitious joint partnership to eliminate all forms of violence against women and girls worldwide. The overall vision of the Spotlight Initiative is that women and girls realize their full potential free from violence. The Spotlight Initiative will directly contribute to the achievement of three of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): Goal 5 on Gender Equality, Goal 3 on good health and well-being and Goal 16 on inclusive and peaceful societies. The program will contribute to the elimination of Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV) through the creation of a broad partnership with Civil Society, Government, Private Sector, Media, among others; and build a social movement of women, men, girls, boys, and transgender people as champions and agents of change at the national, subnational and community levels. A specific focus will be on reaching and including in the program women and girls who are often isolated and most vulnerable to sexual & gender-based violence (SGBV) and harmful practices (HP) due to intersecting forms of discrimination. The SI in Jamaica transitioned in 2023 and the UN agencies will continue to support three key priority areas within the overall focus on Family Violence against women and girls: 1) Child Sexual Abuse, 2) Intimate Partner Violence, and 3) Discrimination against vulnerable groups. The Women’s Health Survey (2016) has identified a lifetime prevalence rate of 27.8% of physical and/or sexual violence against women aged 15 to 49 years by an intimate partner in Jamaica. This figure is slightly lower than the regional average of 30%. Intimate partner violence is the most common form of violence against women, suggesting that women and girls are especially vulnerable to violence in the home by someone they know. The 2017-2027 National Strategic Action Plan to Eliminate Gender-Based Violence (GBV) in Jamaica (NSAP-GBV), has identified ‘Prevention’ as one of the five (5) strategic areas of operation. Under this pillar, key indicators identified (and related to the various outputs and outcomes) include the following: - Strengthen the capacity of key institutions that play a critical role in combating GBV, and build synergies where possible. - Identify strengths and weaknesses of the various organizations – leverage strengths and build-up on weaknesses. The Bustamante Children’s Hospital is the leading children’s hospital in the English-speaking Caribbean. It is the only Children’s Hospital in Jamaica and is a public hospital managed by the Southeast Regional Health Authority. The Hospital offers quality treatment to children ensuring no one is left behind. The Hospital like many across Jamaica is suffering from staff attrition and has had to adopt policies to protect the safety and security of staff and patients. Once such policy is no parents being able to stay overnight. Some wards have only two-night nurses managing multiple patients and do not have the extra support of parents to support consistent care. As noted by the NSAP-GBV, efforts to reduce and eliminate VAWG must include engagement of key institutions across the health sector to support families to promote healthy conflict resolution techniques and support care workers in ensuring consistency of care. The intergenerational transmission of domestic violence paradigm suggests that violence is learned in childhood and transmitted across generations.

Task description

Under the overall supervision of the Representative, based in Barbados and direct supervision by the Planning and Coordination Specialist, Jamaica, the Patient Care Assistant works with and provides support to the Bustamante Children’s Hospital in the development and implementation of effective programmes consistent with the rules and regulations of the Bustamante Children’s Hospital as well as UN Women rules and regulations. The Patient Care Assistant contributes to patient care during night shifts including providing necessary operational, and administrative support. Under the direct supervision of the Planning and Coordination Specialist Jamaica and technical supervision of the Director of Nursing Services at the Bustamante Children’s Hospital, the UN Volunteer will undertake the following tasks:

1. Ongoing support to Nurses:

• Supporting the nurses on service by supporting patient care.

• Supporting the implementation of activities for patients where relevant.

2. Identifying and sharing best practices for pilot.

Note: Candidate must be a national or resident of Jamaica who is physically present in the country.