After more than 42 years serving the Cayman Islands community as a public health nurse, Alice Jane Ebanks is hanging up her stethoscope.
The long-serving Cayman Islands Hospital employee will be spending her upcoming free time traveling.
After her Jan. 24 retirement date, 60-year-old Ms Ebanks plans to travel to South Africa, Brazil, Peru and the Galapagos Islands.
“I’m going to live as hard as I can; I’m going to use up all my energy before I die,” the adventurous nurse said.
With nursing part of her DNA, she doesn’t plan to stray too far from her lifelong calling of service. “When I am not traveling, I will be finding some very fulfilling voluntary work to do – at my church and helping children in school,” she said.
Ms Ebanks also envisions some sort of return to her professional home of the past four decades. “I will probably come back to work part-time, maybe immunize children. I like to work with little children,” she says, explaining that her retirement doesn’t preclude working on a contract basis.
“I will do anything else that needs to be done as long as I can finish my work at the end of the day!”
Health Services Authority Chief Nursing Officer Hazel Brown says Ms Ebanks is a natural for the job.
“Alice Jane has displayed all of the characteristics one expects of a great nurse. Her commitment to her profession, her reliability, her honesty and even her punctuality have made her a valuable asset through her many years of service,” Ms Brown said.
“And, on top of the demands of her job, Alice Jane was always ready and willing to teach others. To put it simply, her contributions to public health have been enormous and her departure is a great loss to all of us here at the Has,” she added.
Kiran Kumar, medical officer of health, spoke of his appreciation for Ms Ebanks’ 27 years of excellent service as immunization programs manager in the Cayman Islands. “She is smart, intelligent, knowledgeable, energetic and skilled,” he said. “It has been a pleasure working with her during her entire career in public health. I wish her an enjoyable retirement. May God bless her.” Lizzette Yearwood, chief executive officer of Health Services Authority said of Ms Ebanks’s public health service: “Her tireless efforts have been instrumental to the success of our immunization program. She is emblematic of the excellent quality of care that the HSA seeks to provide. Alice Jane will certainly be missed.”
On the job
Ms Ebanks joined the Health Services Authority in 1971 and entered the auxiliary nursing program at the hospital at age 17. “In my heart, I wanted to do nursing,“ she said. “Even from primary school days, I was drawn to caring for people.”
Recounting all she has done at the hospital could certainly fill a book. Ms Ebanks has worked in nearly every department, including medical, surgical, pediatrics and emergency, and in the early years they were all part of her job description.
“In those days, you did every single thing,” she said. “You were doctor, nurse, porter and cleaner, if necessary. It’s amazing how nurses can cope.”
Along the way, she qualified as a practical nurse, a registered nurse and a midwife.
In 1983, she decided she was “looking for something else” and was encouraged to try public health. A one-year course in the Public Health School of Nursing in Jamaica followed.
“Public health was my thing, and in 1987 I took over the management of the immunization program,” she said. The learning was continuous and part of her work involved attending regional courses, conferences and immunization meetings.
Despite her accomplishments, Ms Ebanks says there is always more to be done. “The work is endless and we keep expanding our schedule to do more and more antigens for the children,” she said.
Her service to the hospital will be commemorated at a special HSA gathering in the hospital’s Hibiscus Room on Friday, Jan. 24.
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