Liberian Nursing and Midwifery Board understudy Ghana

A delegation from the Liberian Board for Nursing & Midwifery have come to understudy Nurses and Midwifery Council of Ghana as its education and practice seem to be earning a global recognition.

The delegation is led by Mr Humphrey Gibbs Loweal, the Chairman of the Governing Board of the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Liberia and accompanied by Mrs Cecelia Chuchu Kpangbala-Flomo, the Registrar of the Board, Mrs Dedeh Helen Flomo Jones, the Chairman of Item Construction and Mrs. Darboi Garmi Korkoyah, the Monitoring and Evaluation Director.

The objective of the weeklong visit is to afford them an opportunity to understudy the operations of the Council in respect of the conduct of the online licensing examination, registration, general operations and how to deal with complaints and enquiries among others.

The delegation paid a courtesy call on the Netherlands High Commissioner to Ghana Mr Ron Strikker to commend him and his government on the support to the Nursing and Midwifery Council of Ghana to strengthen its capacity in the conduct of online licensing examination for nurses and midwives.

Mr Loweal said Liberia had developed plans to improve its regulation towards widening its existing nursing and midwifery regulation, which was enacted in 1948.

He said the Board, through comprehensive research, found that Ghana has one of the good regulations of nursing and midwifery training, education and practice, which resulted in a decision to pay a visit rather than read the regulations on the website.

He said the Board hence, constituted a team to come and get the experience of Ghana, adding that the team was going to learn from Ghana’s challenge in order not to repeat them to achieve a near perfect nursing and midwifery training, education and practice for Liberia.

Mr Loweal said that the visit had accorded them the opportunity to appreciate the need to always engage and sensitise stakeholders, especially the media to educate and assure the Liberians that their work was purpose driven to ensure quality, accessibility and their safety, which Ghana, according to them had been able to implement to the latter.

On her part, the Chairperson of the 14th Governing Board of the Council, Reverend Veronica Mina Darko, said the Liberian delegation was not the first to have come to learn from the Council and described their visits as very refreshing.

“We should all be proud of ourselves to learn that an international regulatory authority, has chosen to come to Ghana to understudy Nursing and Midwifery Council and this is the second time this year that they are coming,” she said.

Mr Felix Nyante, the Registrar of the Council, said previous collaborations by the Council, other countries and agencies across the globe coupled with its stringent regulation and the introduction of the online licensing examination among other innovative services had made the Council gain tremendous recognition.

The Registrar said the Council is in the process of ensuring that about 90 per cent of its services, including registration, renewal of license, and continuous professional development among others are digitised by the end of this year.

He continued said the Council would continue to provide professional support to countries who would want to strengthen their nursing and midwifery regulation.

Mr. Nyante said that the regulatory visit would help the Liberian government set up an effective regulatory framework for nursing and midwifery professionals.

The Liberian Board for Nursing & Midwifery was established in 1949 under the Nurse Practice Act of 1948. In 1952, the Board began licensing practicing nurses and midwives who were admitted to the Board as auxiliary members.

In 1958, the Liberian Council of Midwives was established to assist with the implementation of the Board's functions. The Council was merged into the Liberian Board for Nursing & Midwifery in 1975.