Koforidua Nurses Training College admits 178 students

 
 
A total of 178 students admitted to the Nurses and Midwives Training College, Koforidua, were at the weekend taken through their matriculation oath.

Of the number, 72 opted for the midwifery course, while the remaining would be studying general nursing.

Guiding the student nurses through the oath for the three-year programme, the Principal of the college, Madam Doreen Ayensu, asked them to chart the path of Florence Nightingale, the mother of mordern nursing by handling the sick with care and devotion.

In her view, it was only in that direction that they would distinguish between what was logical and illogical, as well as a balance between liberties and responsibilities in the interest of the community.

 She was of the view that such values would sustain the laudable principles of people who made nursing their profession.

Touching on the challenges of the college, she identified it's facilities and equipment, especially the laboratory as woefully inadequate and that might have accounted for the not-too-good performance of the immediate past graduates and appealed to the authorities for assistance.

The college, which would be celebrating its golden jubilee next year, had since 1999 produced 1,725 diploma holders in nursing.

Mr Lawrence Lawson of the Health Directorate of the Ministry of Health pointed out that while discussing a re-orientation of health trainees, there was the need to consider the enhancement of equipment and facilities required for effective training.

In that vein, the ministry was actively working on e-learning for health training institutes.

The tutor ratio to that of the training of skilled nursing personnel, to him, was also not the best. To solve that problem, various sponsorship arrangements to entice serving personnel were ongoing.

Such measures, according to Mr Lawson, would sharpen the skills of the tutors and also introduce new best practices.