Midwifery Schools To Offer Legon Diplomas

ALL nursing and midwifery training institutions in the country will now be affiliated to the College of Health Sciences of the University of Ghana for the award of diploma to their graduates.

Following countrywide inspection of their facilities, the National Accreditation Board has granted authorization to the training institutions to operate tertiary programmes.

The Registrar of the Nurses and Midwives Council of Ghana, Veronica Darko, announced this in Accra yesterday at the opening of a conference for principals of nursing and midwifery training institutions.

The conference, themed 'Improving the quality of nursing and midwifery education and training in Ghana, the role of the nurses and midwives', was to deliberate on how the training institutions can collaborate to raise the level of training in the country.

It also sought to address problems affecting the profession as well as classify issues relating to the performance of candidates in the licensing, examination and accreditation of the training institutions.

Ms. Darko said that the three-year affiliation process is to streamline the training of the country's health professionals to an appreciable level but added that the starting point for the programme would soon be determined by the agencies involved.

The Nurses and Midwives Council, she said, had the sole mandate to license nursing and midwifery practitioners to practise legally after school and added, “acquiring an educational certificate alone does not empower people to practise in the country”.

“It must further be explained that this examination is distinctly different from the academic examination that the nursing and midwifery trainees go through at the end of their training due to the strong emphasis placed on practical assessment,” she added.

Ms. Darko expressed concern about the gradual erosion of the quality of health care patients receive from nurses and midwives and said that the council would work to improve things.

The chairman of the Governing Board of the Council, Ms. Kathlyn Ababio, expressed concern about the quality of nurses in the country and stressed the need for it to be upgraded.

She called on all sectors involved to work towards improving the quality of health professionals in the country.