Nurses urged not to wear "talking shoes"

Effiduase, Feb 16, GNA - The Principal of the Holy Family Nurses Training School at Nkawkaw, Ms Annie Appoh, has described as unacceptable the wearing of "talking shoes" by nurses on duty.

"Today, nurses have thrown away the best practices of Florence Nightingale, the initiator of nursing services, to practices that rather compounds the pain and suffering of the sick at the hospitals". She recalled that in years gone by and in fact in the training schools nurses were taught to wear rubber soles and other flat heeled shoes to be smart and also not to disturb patients.


Ms Appoh, who was speaking at the launch of the "World Day of the Sick" of the Accra and Koforidua dioceses of the Catholic Church, said nurses must go back to the old practices, particularly concerning dressing and attitudes.


She said the Florence Nightingale style of nursing was quickly fading away and mentioned the wearing of gloves, short dresses and the stylish shoes as practices that was rendering nursing ineffective. Ms Appoh, who was forthright in her presentation, said in the olden days nurses touched their patients through bathing and lifting "but today that duty had been ceded to relatives who have to bath patients on admission because of fear of infections".


She said touching patients had been found to promote psychological healing whiles shoes disturb certain ailments and line of treatments and urged nurses to redefine their role by adhering to the teaching and practices of the profession.

Mrs Florence Okrah, the Deputy Director of Nursing Service (DDNS) of the Eastern Regional Hospital, said yelling at patients was another unprofessional conduct.


She said viewing television and listening to phone calls, especially in the wards by nurses, prevented them from responding to the call or needs of patients and that those acts tended to tarnish the image of the profession.


Mrs Okrah appealed to nurses to raise the image of the profession by showing love and compassion to patients since those qualities contributed to the healing process.


Dr Ebenezer Akrofi-Mantey, the Medical Director of the St Joseph Hospital, said good relationship with patients by health workers was very important in managing their plight and suffering.