N&MC celebrates 50 years of innovation in regulating professionals

The Nursing and Midwifery Council (N&MC) said it is taking advantage of technology for the effective administration of its mandate of regulating the training and practice of nursing and midwifery in Ghana.

Mr Felix Nyante, the Registrar of the N&MC, said Council had gone a long way with numerous innovations and its focus now was to sustain those gains.

He was speaking at a grand durbar to launch its 50th Anniversary celebration on the theme: “Sustaining the Innovation.”

Mr Nyante said the vision of the Council was to ensure the availability of qualified nursing and midwifery professionals, who would deliver safe, prompt and efficient service to the delight of clients while ensuring highest standards of training and practice.

He said the Council had constantly worked for hand in hand with the Ministry of Health and other partners to innovate and raise the standard of training and practice, which had resulted in an increase in the number of midwifery professionals to safeguard maternal and infant health.

The Registrar said the Online Licensing Examination introduced by the Council in 2017, with sponsorship from the NITCH programme under the Netherlands Embassy, replaced the paper-based licensure exams for Nurses and Midwives, making the conduct of examinations much easier and safer.

He said with the introduction of the Online Continuing Professional Development (CPD), nurses and midwives could easily log on and participate in workshops and seminars from anywhere they may be, without having to travel long distances to attend those programmes.

As a result of the digitalised operations, nurses and midwives could easily have their Personal Identification and Auxiliary Identification Numbers renewed at the decentralised levels nationwide, while the Council had established and digitally furnished its records Centre to preserve information on all professionals and key documents.

The Council, Mr Nyante said, had further established a Call Centre currently being managed by its Public Affairs Department to enable rapid and swift interaction with clients and stakeholders to promptly and efficiently meet their needs.

It also uses social media channels like WhatsApp, Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

He stated that throughout the innovative processes of change, Council had never ceased to equip staff with the requisite skills and knowledge, imbibing the culture of technology in them to match up with the evolutions that came with the times.

It even provided sponsorship to some to acquire high knowledge in their field of practice, aside from the quarterly in-house training programmes, he said.

Mr Nyante said the newest creation by its Information Management System (IMS) staff was the N&MC Mobile App, which, apart from providing information on the history of the Council, its mandate and Governing Board, was adorned with features for announcements, news, upcoming events, gallery and resources such as Result checker, Online CPD and Indexing.

“With these and other innovations, there appears to be a glorious future for the N&MC and Ghana’s health sector as a whole, to serve as a beacon of hope and a guide to other Nursing and Midwifery Councils in Africa and globally,” he said.

There was a dissemination of the 50th Anniversary Research Report, titled: “Transition and Innovation in Nursing and Midwifery Practice, Education, Research and Policy in Ghana,” delivered by Dr Janet Ampadu Fofie, the Chairman of the Public Services Commission.

Among the key recommendations was for the N&MC to sharpen the skills of professionals, encourage more research, and ensure that aside the publication of the findings, the recommendations were implemented.

The celebration also saw the launch of two books; “A History of the Nursing and Midwifery Council in Ghana, 1900s, to 2019,” and “A French Course Book for Nurses and Midwives,” with the Fourth Edition of the “Numid Horizon,” an international journal of the N&MC, being out-doored.

Mr Veronica Darko, the Chairperson of the 14th Governing Council of the N&MC, said beyond meeting the needs of stakeholders, the history book would serve as a reference material to address the countless conflicting viewpoints of practitioners, and authentic course material in the teaching and learning process.

She commended past and present leadership and staff of the Council for working hard to keep the vision and flames alive and urged all professionals to maintain excellence in their respective fields of service to humanity.