In her book "Breaking The Glass Ceiling", Jocelyn Hezekiah RN, PhD, a Trinidadian nursing educator, tells the stories of three Caribbean Nurses, Dame Nita Barrow the late Governor General of Barbados, Berenice Dolly of Trinidad and Dr Mary Seivwright from Jamaica.
Dr Hezekiah, a Trinidadian who has lived most of her life abroad, focused on the contributions of these three eminent and ageing nursing leaders in three Caribbean islands because she felt that nursing literature is replete with documentation of the achievements and accomplishments of nursing leaders from the developed world - British, American, Canadian, European and, lately, Australian - and their impact on nursing in their own countries and internationally.
In terms of a multicultural and international perspective, says Dr Hezekiah "one might well ask where, if any, are the nursing leaders of African, Asian and Caribbean heritage in the developing countries? What are their achievements? Did they become leaders during the time of European dominance? Or is it only in the postcolonial period? If there are leaders in the developing countries, why have their contributions to nursing and health care not been acknowledged and documented."
Firm in her belief that the voices of these three women needed to be heard and their achievements and experiences written and shared with future generations, Dr Hezekiah took a six month sabbatical in 1996 from Mc Master University, Hamilton, Ontario, where she was Associate Professor of Nursing, travelled to St Kitts, Nevis, Barbados, Trinidad and Jamaica and interviewed 33 colleagues in these islands regarding the three bright, black women born between 1916 and 1923 who embraced each challenge that came their way as an opportunity for growth.
However, when the story of Jocelyn Agatha Hezekiah's life is written at some future stage, it will be seen that hers is also a story of growth not for personal gain or self-aggrandisement but for the good of womankind and the nursing profession. She too would have worked relentessly to improve the image of nursing, the nursing profession and the status of women.
Born the third of five children to Archie and Vio Hezekiah, one of whom is Father Reggie Hezekiah, Jocelyn obtained her Senior Cambridge School Certificate from Haig's Girls High School, a private school in Belmont, taught for about a year at Progressive High School, then joined the Civil Service and was appointed to the X-Ray Department in the Port of Spain General Hospital.
Dr Hezekiah, whose initial goal was to study medicine, sees this as "the turning point in my life." Sister Jessamy, a very British and Colonial trained nurse dissuaded young Jocelyn. "We need nurses" she told me "and I can arrange for you to go to England. The epitomy of medicine and nursing at that time."
At age 18, Jocelyn left by boat to study nursing at The Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton where she graduated as a State Registered Nurse, and about a year later became a State Certified Midwife from The Churchill Hospital, Oxford, England. She worked for a little while as a midwife in the Oxford district before coming back to Trinidad where she found herself in great demand for private nursing.
At the end of two years, not one to let any grass grow under her feet, Jocelyn left for Montreal, Canada, to work as a Staff Nurse at the Montreal General Hospital. Moved up to Head Nurse, completed a Bachelor of Science Degree in Nursing at Mc Gill University, and then taught at the Montreal General School of Nursing for five years.
Like the three women in her book, always ready to grasp an opportunity for further education, Jocelyn then went on a scholarship from the Ministry of Health Ontario to the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto, and compressed a two year Masters in Education course into one year, majoring in Adult Education and Counselling. To fulfil one of the conditions of the scholarship that of working in Ontario for a year or two, she became Assistant Professor of Nursing at the University of Western Ontario for two years.
Then came the appointment of Director of the Nursing Programme at Humber College where the first of its kind experiment was taking place, the transference of all nursing education to the Community Colleges.
Jocelyn became Chairman of the Nursing Programme and was successfully involved with the transfer of two programmes from the Oslee School of Nursing and Quo Vadis School of Nursing to the Humber College jurisdiction where she remained for about 12 to 13 years introducing post diploma programmes for Registered Nurses. She became very active in the Registered Nurses Association of Ontario and was the first Caribbean Nurse elected President of the Association.
Jocelyn was offered the position of Director of Health Sciences Division at the Grant Mac Ewan Community College, decided to pursue her doctorate and again moved across Canada to the University of Alberta in Edmonton where she did parttime work as an Associate Professor at the University of Alberta's School of Nursing and started fulltime PhD work. It was during this time that Jocelyn spent six months in Trinidad researching her doctoral thesis "Development of Nursing Education in Trinidad and Tobago 1950 to 1986 on a Research Foundation grant.
Now a Doctor in her chosen profession and with lots of offers coming her way, Dr Hezekiah accepted a position at Mc Master University in Hamilton as Associate Professor of Nursing. During this time her dream of working in the developing world was fulfilled when for five years she was based in Karachi as a Field Faculty Advisor and travelled across the whole of Pakistan educating Registered Nurses and Lady Health Visitors."I helped in developing their leadership skills in teaching primary health care in the villages as well as in the hospitals and schools of nursing. When the project ended I returned to Canada and taught at Mc Master University again until my retirement in 1997."
Dr Hezekiah now lives in the country of her birth, Trinidad & Tobago, for six months of the year and her country of adoption where she is still consulting at Mc Master University, for the other six months of the year.
"Breaking the Glass Ceiling" says Dr Hezekiah "denotes that invisible barrier that is both structural and attitudinal, and in male-dominated occupations prevents women from reaching the top. Although the three women did not break barriers in a male-dominated profession, where the term is more properly applied, they broke the limits that were defined for black women at that time. They defied tradition within a traditional woman's occupation. They blazed the way for black women, and nurses in particular, to reach for the top and were acknowledged role models for black nurses and women in the region."
The book, which makes very interesting reading, is available at the UWI Book Store on the St Augustine Campus, Classic Book Store at Royal Palm Plaza and Lexicon Publishers in Boundary Road, San Juan.