UWR Minister commends nurses for good work despite logistics constraints

Wa, August 16, GNA - Alhaji Issahaque Salia, Upper West Regional Minister, has commended members of the Ghana Registered Nurses Association (GRNA) for providing quality healthcare delivery despite the numerous logistics constraints and other social challenges confronting them.

He said many people still see the nursing profession as it was in the days of Florence

Nightingale, without taking into consideration the risk involved in the daily life of a nurse.

Alhaji Salia was interacting with members of the National Executives of the GRNA during a courtesy call on him at his office on Monday.

He said government was aware of the constraints and challenges facing nurses and was working hard to improve infrastructure even though that had not kept pace with the way they would have liked it to be.

Alhaji Salia reminded the members of the quantum of national development challenges, which he said was making the government unable to provide the needed resources to improve the working condition of nurses and other workers.

He however advised them to make the people feel the services that they were providing them in a more positive way so that government's health objectives would be achieved.

Madam Alice Asare-Allotey, President of the Association, said the executives were in the region to inform its members of government policies and to encourage them to enhance performance to achieve set goals.

She said the association was aware of the refusal of nurses to accept postings to the region and would therefore collect information from the health authorities about the nurses' situation in the Region and make suggestions to the Ghana Health Service.

Madam Asare-Allotey said government had established health training institutions in the region and that it was the wish of the association that government retains such products to address the inadequacies of nurses in health facilities in the communities.

She appealed to district assemblies to sponsor nurses' trainees and bond them so that after completion of their training they would stay in the communities and render services to the people.

Madam Asare-Allotey announced that a regional secretariat and a hostel was under construction in Wa and when completed would be used for the training and retraining of its members to enhance quality healthcare delivery.

She said the project was being financed by contributions from members of the association and appealed to the Upper West Regional Coordinating Council for assistance to complete the facility on time.