Nurse with A Caring Heart for The People

Senior Public Health Nurse for Westmoreland, Carol Beharie, has stood as a pillar of strength, compassion and commitment within Jamaica’s public health system.

Ms. Beharie’s journey is a profound testament to service, leadership and a deep love for people.

Her work in the parish spans clinic duties, school visits, vaccination campaigns, health promotion, and community outreach. Whether she is mentoring a young nurse or checking on a bedridden patient, her focus has always been on building trust and making lasting connections.

“I enjoy community nursing because I love to see people get better. It’s a joy when you go to a home and the person improves because of your intervention,” Ms. Beharie told JIS News in an interview.

One of her proudest roles has been in mentorship. “I mentor staff, especially community health aides and practical nurses. I have mentored staff who are now public health nurses and are doing well. And I feel good to see that I contributed to their development,” she said.

Her reach also extends into the heart of communities. “We do health talks in schools and churches and markets. We go to the community. We talk about health issues, and we try to do screenings. We try to encourage persons to seek health early,” she explained.

Nurse Beharie has been a registered nurse since 1996 when she began her career at Cornwall Regional Hospital in St. James. She then went to Westmoreland as a public health nurse in 2002.

She received her nursing education at the Cornwall School of Nursing, and after completing her training, she was drawn to public health because of its hands-on impact. She also holds a master’s degree in health administration from the University of Technology (UTech) Jamaica.

“After finishing my training, I wanted to serve people directly, and public health gave me that opportunity,” she said.

Nurse Beharie also expressed a deep love for midwifery. “I love to deliver babies. That’s one of my passions,” she said.

Since joining the Health Department in Westmoreland, Nurse Beharie has been at the forefront of critical health responses. During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, she served as one of the Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) Managers, overseeing operations in the parish.

“I had to see to the operations of what’s happening in the parish in terms of the EOC, and the vaccination programme was part of that,” she outlined.

Nurse Beharie pointed to the courage that was required on the front lines for the pandemic and the island’s subsequent vaccination programme.

“Knowing that you, yourself, you’re going to be exposed to something that is new, you don’t know the effect that is going to have on you and you have to be one of those to step forward and take a vaccine,” she noted.

Having to face public skepticism head-on, Nurse Beharie said “everybody was saying, is it really tested? Can it work? Can it whatever? [However], we had to be first in line to take the vaccine, and I was ready to take it. Because if we as healthcare workers got sick, who was going to take care of everybody else?”

“We were exposed quite a number of times. Got swabbed a couple times – not a nice feeling. Got COVID, but not severe. [It was] terrible to be at home in isolation or isolating yourself from your family. Yes. That wasn’t nice,” she said.

Nurse Beharie described navigating the pandemic and promoting the vaccinations as one of the most challenging and fulfilling times of her career.

“We had to be calling persons, encouraging them to come out to take the vaccines. We had to do home visits. It was rough, but I had a good team. We had to be setting up different vaccination sites at different times, just to reach everybody. We did early morning, late evening, weekends,” she noted.

Thankfully, she said the tireless efforts of the Health Department paid off. “We got calls from persons saying thank you. I remember one gentleman, he said, ‘Nurse, I was so afraid. I didn’t want to take the vaccine. But you explained it to me in a way that made sense, and I did it. Thank you’,” she recalled.

Even with all the demands of her job, what keeps her grounded is the joy of helping others. “People appreciate the little things. When they see you and say, ‘Thank you nurse for what you did,’ it goes a long way,” she said.

For Nurse Beharie, nursing is not just a profession; it is a divine calling.

“I feel good when I go to my bed and say, ‘Today was a good day, I helped someone.’ That’s what keeps me going,” she said.

For his part, Health Promotion and Education Officer for Westmoreland, Gerald Miller, a colleague of Nurse Beharie, lauded her as the consummate professional who takes the utmost pride in her work.

“She is forward-thinking and is always trying to find solutions to problems affecting the [public health] system and impacting the delivery of quality care,” he said.

Nurse Beharie is married and is the proud mother of two children.

As Jamaica observes Healthcare Workers Appreciation Month, Nurse Beharie’s story is a reminder of the quiet heroes whose compassion fuels the nation’s health system. Her legacy is written not just in years of service but in the hearts of those she has helped along the way.