LASCO/NAJ Nurse and Nursing Student of the Year

Since 1999, LASCO has partnered with the Nurses Association of Jamaica (NAJ) in the annual staging of the National Nurse of the Year programme, which recognizes and pays tribute to outstanding members of the nursing profession. The Nurse of the Year (NOY) Programme is the recognition of pacesetters within the profession who have displayed high professional, ethical and personal development standards. In 2013, LASCO has provided support valued at over 300,000, with over 5,000 nursing practitioners directly and indirectly reached through the programme.

Selection Process

Interested nurses  island wide are required to fill out an application form and submit it to the office of the Nurses Association of Jamaica.    A short list of applicants is prepared after which they go through an interview process.  The finalists are then selected and are asked to make presentations/demonstrations before a panel.  Based on the scores assigned, the Nurse of the Year, first and second runner-up as well as the Student Nurse and first runner up are selected.

LASCO and NAJ are also partners in the hosting of National Nurses Week every year.

Other Healthy Living initiatives:

• Promotion of the elimination of discrimination against persons with HIV/AIDS.  LASCO is a Founding Member of the Jamaica Business Council on HIV/AIDS, which formulates strategies to eliminate stigma in the workplace against persons living with HIV/AIDS
• Donations to the Haematology and Dialysis Units of the University Hospital of the West Indies
• Sponsorship of International Nurses’ Day in May and Nurses’ Week in July

Sponsorship of the Jamaica Dental Association’s Oral Health Month Health Fair.