Minister urges Nurses and Midwives to upgrade knowledge
Mr Kwaku Agyeman-Manu, the Minister of Health on Monday urged the newly qualified Nurses and Midwives to be innovative and upgrade their knowledge to remain relevant and be abreast of latest trends in the health sector.
He assured them of government’s commitment to provide adequate and efficient healthcare facilities and resources into the training of practitioners to offer efficient heath care in the country.
Mr Agyeman-Manu gave the advice in Accra at the induction of newly qualified nurses and midwives from the Southern belt of the country, into the profession, organized by the Nursing and Midwifery Council of Ghana.
The inductees are all registered Midwives and Nurses, including Registered General Nursing, Registered Community Health Nurses and Registered Mental Health Nurses.
He said the country’s health system had undergone major transformation over the past years and there was the need for adequately trained healthcare workers in the right places to improve the health systems.
The Minister said the Ministry, in collaboration with stakeholders, was making efforts to provide Ghanaians with well-trained health professionals to offer prompt and efficient healthcare services.
He noted that, improving health system in the country does not only require more nurses but nursing professionals who are better equipped to care for people with multiple chronic conditions in all settings.
“In this regard, we need to have more preventive and specialized nurses since the country had few specialized nurses, which makes it difficult to reach all persons who needed specialized health care”, he added.
He said government will do its part to ensure that it trains more preventive and specialized nurses to improve on quality service delivery and a better healthcare system in the country.
Mr Agyeman-Manu noted that the health sector cannot succeed without research into phenomena in the healthcare settings, saying the nursing and midwifery research was a growing field where practitioners can contribute their skills and experiences to the science of nursing care.
“Ghana has a target to contribute to the global achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals. We need well trained nurses and midwives to work with optimum commitment and professionalism to contribute to the global reduction of maternal mortality ratio to less than 70 per 100,000 live births,” he said.
Professor Nana Aba Appiah Amfo, Dean of School of Languages, University of Ghana, said the success of the inductees should not depend on their certificates but on attitude, determination, and perseverance to make a difference in their field of work.
She urged them to be professional, truthful and devoted to duty, irrespective of race, gender, religion or any affiliations.
“I challenge you to plan to be among the best in your profession and develop yourself intellectually and professionally as well as respect patients and give out the best of health care delivery,” she added.
GNA