President Appeals to Nurses to stay Home

President John Agyekum Kufuor yesterday appealed to nurses in the country to consider staying back home to work to improve the health status of Ghanaians instead of leaving for greener pastures.

He said that he appreciated the valuable contribution of nurses and other health workers towards the provision of quality health care for the people. That explains why some incentive packages are being implemented to cover all health workers particularly those working in deprived areas in the country.

These were contained in a speech read on his behalf at the opening ceremony of the 7th Biennial General Meeting and the 16th Scientific Session of the West African College of Nursing (WACN), in Accra yesterday with the theme: “Quality Nursing Care through the use of Information Technology prospects and challenges”.

According to the President, seventy vehicles had arrived as part of the incentive mechanisms and the beneficiaries would be named soon.

The Minister of Health, Dr. Kwaku Afriyie, urged nurses to deliberate the benefits of Information Technology (IT) on effective quality care and what nurses and midwives can do to update themselves to continue giving quality services. He also assured WACN of his Ministry’s continuous support to all the professional colleges of the West African Health Organization.

Prof. Sakyi Amoa, the Director-General of the Ghana AIDS Commission, appealed to nurses to be equipped with information Communication Technology (ICT) skills because the application of computer and information sciences to nursing would facilitate the processing of relevant date to promote effective nursing practice in all its domains.