Dr Kwaku Agyeman Manu – Minister of Health
The Nursing &Midwifery Council (N&MC) has outdoored its maiden edition of an international journal on nursing and midwifery.
The journal, ‘NUMID Horizon’, the first of its kind in Ghana, is aimed at providing a credible medium for nurses and midwives and other health-related researchers to share their research and other professional works.
‘NUMID Horizon’ publishes original research papers, systematic and scholarly review articles, technical reports, policy briefs and short communication that meet high academic, ethical and professional standards.
Minister of Health Kwaku Agyemang-Manu commended the N&MC and the authors of the journal for their innovation, adding that much effort was needed to implement the recommendations outlined in the various areas of research.
“Research in nursing and midwifery has a tremendous influence on current and future professional practices given that it can provide specialised insights and discoveries that other healthcare research might miss,” he added.
Mr Agyemang-Manu said that the Ministry of Health, in collaboration with other health partners, will expand health promotion programmes and health infrastructure development, as well as strengthen the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) to ensure that the right to health of Ghanaians is guaranteed.
“I want to assure all that the government is committed to providing Ghanaians with adequate and efficient healthcare facilities whilst committing resources into the training and practice of nurses and midwives,” he said.
The minister also commended the council for the introduction of French and sign language as a new course for the training of nurses and midwives, an innovative policy initiated by the council.
Prof Stephen Adei, a lecturer at the Ashesi University, reviewing the journal, stated that the articles were well-written and of high quality and could be published in top international journals to add to the world of knowledge and most especially to help improve professionalism in the nursing and midwifery profession.
He continued that Ghanaian nurses should improve professionalism in carrying out their duties to evade avoidable deaths of patients due to their negligence.
He said that nurses are the first contacts of patients in the absence of doctors and, thus, cannot jeopardise the lives that they (nurses) are entrusted with.
‘Numid Horizon’ was conceived in May 2016. It was formally established by the council in July 2016, with the mission of providing a platform for the academia, researchers and practitioners in the various health institutions to place their research in the public domain.
By Abigail Owiredu-Boateng