Nurses Celebrate International Nurses Day

The Ghana Registered Nurses Association (GRNA) has dedicated the celebration of the 2011 Nurses’ Week to addressing shortfalls in the provision of care with particular reference to attitude towards clients and stakeholders.

A statement in Accra signed by Mrs Alice Darkoa Asare-Allotey, the President of the Association, said concerns had been raised by “our general clientele on the negative attitude of nurses and midwives all over the country.”

“It is therefore prudent for this noble association to take stock of the kind of touch we give to the dignified persons who constitute our clients and for whose sake we hold our professional identity, the good people of Ghana first and foremost and those beyond our borders whom we can reach.” The statement was issued in respect of this year’s celebration of National Nurses Week held yearly from May 6, which is the official National Nurses Day and continues through May 12 to coincide with Florence Nightingale’s birthday.

The international theme for this year is “Closing the Gap, Increasing Access and Equity” but the statement said the GRNA had taken the opportunity to examine itself critically in close association with the professional image and had undertaken to address the common theme “Nurses and Midwives, Self Assessment and Attitude”.

The statement said as disease management had become more complex and with the emergence of new disease conditions, health seekers were becoming aware of their rights to respect and quality care.

“It is therefore required of nurses to live up to clients’ expectations through the adoption of acceptable practices and innovations that will impact positively on health care outcomes.”

The statement appealed to nurses and midwives to make an honest judgment of the quality of the way they behave towards their clients.

“This is so because we know that we owe the people of Ghana the duty to promote health, prevent disease, to treat ailments and to rehabilitate the lost.”

The statement appealed to the public to take good care of themselves and to uphold healthy practices to cut down on health cost and also to lessen the pressure on the already burdened health care professionals.

It appealed to employers to provide the conducive environment in the form of the right and adequate equipment, logistics and motivation to enhance the quality of care “we have always envisaged and strive to maintain.”

Nurses and Midwives constitute the largest number of health care professionals within the health care fraternity in all settings.

Nursing and midwifery contribution in the health care influences the direction of the management of disease burden across communities in the preventive, curative and rehabilitation dimensions.

International Nurses’ Day is observed annually in honour of Florence Nightingale, the mother of modern nursing, and to honour the dedication and commitment of Registered Nurses and Midwives and their contribution to health care.

Nurses Week is a time when doctors, patients, co-workers, family, friends, and others let the nurses in their lives know how much they appreciate them.

Activities outlined for the celebration in Ghana include outreach programmes, seminars, health education, clean-up exercises at health facilities and radio and TV discussions at the Regional and District levels.