The Head of Nursing and Midwifery at the Ministry of Health (MoH), Dr Barnabas Kwame Yeboah has condemned the act of junior nurses and midwives picketing at the ministry’s premises in professional uniforms to seek financial clearance.
According to him, such an act was unprofessional denigrating and dragging the name of the profession into disrepute.
He was speaking at the 2nd National Nursing and Midwifery Leaders and Managers Conference yesterday, in Accra under the theme, “Integrating Innovations and Modern Advancements in Nursing and Midwifery to Achieve Universal Health Coverage in Ghana.”
The two-day event brought together more than 180 participants from all over the 16 regions in the country to discuss contemporary issues affecting the progress of nursing and midwifery practices, process and systems in the country.
Mr Yeboah cautioned junior colleagues to press home their demands with decorum and cease using the professional uniform for demonstrations and picketing.
He commended government for ensuring that majority of unemployed nurses and midwives who graduated from 2012 to 2016 had been offered financial clearance and were currently working permanently.
Mr Yeboah pleaded with government to give financial clearance to the rest of his junior colleagues who completed from 2017 to 2019; adding that, “we are also witnessing timely payment of National Health Insurance Scheme claims over the last three years.”
He called on government to ensure that health and safety measures for nurses and midwives were completely taken care of in their conditions of service.
“Introduction of special monetary incentives for our colleagues working in deprived communities in our country particularly our Community Health Nurses working in Community-Based Health Planning and Services (CHPS) compounds, ”Mr. Yeboah added.
The Minister of Health,Mr Kwaku Agyeman-Manu,in a speech read on his behalf by the Deputy Minister of Health, Mrs. Tina Naa Ayele Mensah said, innovation was vital for improving the quality of nursing and its sustainability.
According to her, innovation played a significant role in terms of promotion of health, prevention of disease, identification of risk factors, and the maintenance and management of new information to have qualified service findings.
Mrs Mensah stated that,the planning of nursing practice, submission and evaluation of the use of innovative strategies were among the key factors that directly affected the quality of service.
This, she said, represented a significant challenge facing nursing in the coming decade which would be a key finding balance between technology and the human element.
“With the proper training of medical staff with the new coming technology and proper implementation, the work of nurses and technicians with patients would be more efficient,” she noted.
Mrs Mensah challenged the leadership of nurses and midwives to influence the inclusion of modern nursing and midwifery accessories for care such as electronic vital signs monitoring, patient monitors and other highly advanced equipment that facilitated patient care and safety.
BY ABEDUWAALUCY APPIAH
