Members of GCNM present at the AGM
President of the Ghana College of Nurses and Midwives (GCNM), Prof. Victoria Bam, has urged the government to promptly replace migrant nurses and midwives with their yet-to-be-employed colleagues back home.
She stated that this is crucial to prevent burnout at health institutions and also ensures that newly graduated health professionals do not lose their skills due to lack of practice.
Prof. Bam made the call at the 8th annual general meeting and 4th Scientific Conference of the GCNM in Accra.
It was held under the theme: “A Decade of Nursing and Midwifery Specialist Education in Ghana: Innovative and High Impact Interventions Towards Universal Health Coverage (UHC).”
The meeting brought together nurses and midwives from across the country to celebrate GCMN’s achievements over the last 10 years and discuss next steps towards postgraduate nursing and midwifery specialization for the next 10 years.
As part of the AGM, 49 associate members and 178 members were inducted into the college.
Prof. Bam also urged the government to resource the health facilities, saying, “So what we are asking the government to do for us, apart from salaries and monuments, is to resource our facilities with the material resources, the equipment that we need and with human resources.”
The Rector of GCNM, Hannah Akua Oparebea Acquah, called on the Minister of Health to invest in specialist education of nurses and midwives.
She emphasized the importance of a strategy that encourages professional nurses and midwives to pursue particular areas of interest.
This, she claims, will compel Ghana’s Nursing and Midwifery professions to keep up with global trends and provide population-specific, disease-specific care rather than generalist care for improved healthcare outcomes.
“This will also require an appreciable increase in the release of practicing nurses and midwives with paid study leave,” she said.
By Nafisatu Abdul Razak