Phebe School of Nursing Needs US$800,000 As Operational Cost

By Esau J. Farr

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Phebe School of Nursing says the school needs at least eight hundred thousand (US$800,000) United States Dollars for the smooth running of the school.

Dr. Jefferson Sibley said concern over low budgetary allotment to the school has been low over the years, but much attention is yet to be given it by past and present major stakeholders in the Health Sector of the country especially from central government.

According to Dr. Sibley, the Phebe School of Nursing currently has one thousand United States (US$100,000) 2018/2019 Fiscal Budget in sharp contrast to the proposed amount needed to run the school.

He disclosed that out of the approved US$100,000, 54 thousand United States have been disbursed or released to the school with a little over one quarter of the 2018/2019 Fiscal Period left to go.

Dr. Sibley maintained that the school is free of tuition, but boarding students are asked to contribute to their feeding during their stay on campus.

“The Phebe School of Nursing is a tuition free institution, but students, mainly those based on the campus are asked to contribute a minimum amount to their own feeding exercise while staying on campus to learn more,” Dr. Sibley disclosed.

According to him, there are three hundred (300) students currently at the entity being trained in different disciplines of the nursing profession.

Speaking with two of the practical training staffs of the school, the pairs (Patty McClain and Famata M. Quinah) said they were happy to be a part of the institution in helping to train up students who enroll at the school.

They expressed joy in choosing the nursing profession as a career in order to help save lives at all times.

“We bring our students here for practical training in order to drill them through examples of the real works they will be doing at the main hospitals where they will be working in the future. We teach to learn and go through the regular procedures and exercises patients and nurses go through at a real hospital so that they (students) can familiarize themselves with that actual work at the hospital,” Madam McClain explained to reporters.

The Patty and Famata spoke with a team of journalists recently at the Clinical Practice Center of the school in Phebe while on a guided tour with the Chief Executive Officer of the School, Dr. Jefferson Sibley.

The school is one of the traditional nursing training institutions in Liberia with a long running track record and has trained thousands of Liberians professional nurses or health practitioners some of whom have made significant contributions to the development of the Health Sector of Liberia. TNR