The Upper West Regional Nurses and Midwives week celebration commenced on the 22nd of June, 2016 with the theme ‘Nurses and Midwives, a force for change: improving Health Systems Resilience through Safe Staffing’.
The week celebration was proceeded with a radio discussion. The regional executives took to the radio station to educate the general public on the roles of the Ghana Registered Nurses and Midwives Association (GRNMA) and the rationale behind the celebration of nurses’ week.
On the second day that is the 23rd of June, 2016, members went on a float through the principal streets of Jirapa the host district. After the float followed a medical screening opened to the general public. The public were given the opportunity to check their temperature, blood pressure and Body Mass Index. Eyes screening and counselling services were also offered. Those who opted to donate blood voluntarily had their Hepatitis B status checked for them. The day’s activities were climaxed with a candle light procession in the evening.
The third day started with a clean-up campaign in the morning and a symposium/lecture series in the afternoon and fun games in the evening. The principal speaker at the symposium Madam Victoria Dahoro Dangori who also doubles as the regional chairperson for the GRNMA gave lectures on two carefully selected topics.
The first presentation was on the topic ‘Ethico-legal issues in Nursing and Midwifery practice’. She elaborated a lot on some of the ethics that guide the practice of nursing worldwide. Some of the principles of nursing ethics mentioned included autonomy which has to do with the ability of a patients to decide the type of treatment he/she should be given. Others included veracity (telling g the truth) and accountability. She entreated the nurses and midwives present to take into consideration these ethics in the daily execution of their duties.
Madam Victoria presented the second lecture on the topic ‘Career progression in Nursing and Midwifery’. She educated members on the need to aspire for higher education. She elaborated on the number of institutions in Ghana that offer degrees in various nursing branches including mental nursing, nurse practitioner and many others. She also encouraged them to consider joining the fellowship in nursing.
Nurses and midwives present were given the opportunity to join in the discussion by sharing ideas or asking questions that needed to be clarified. Many nurses present complained of the difficulty they faced in securing study leave to pursue further studies. Other also advocated for the abolishment of the quota system which stipulated that only a specific number of nurses should be granted study leave in each year.
In response to the issue of the difficulty in securing study leave, nurses present were entreated to always put up the right behavior or attitude towards work and their senior officers to win their trust. This will make it difficult for them to deny them study leave as and when they put forward their applications. The day’s activities came to end with fun games at the St. Augustine’s park.
The week’s celebration was climaxed with a grand durbar at the Mcnualty hall on the 25th of June. In attendance were the deputy Upper West Regional minister, the deputy regional coordinating director, the Upper West Regional director for health, the regional chief nursing officer, the DCE for Jirapa and many other dignitaries.
The regional chairperson for GRNMA Upper West branch in her opening speech reminded all that the celebration of nurses’ week is a yearly event which opens on the 6th of May every year which is the official National nurses’ day and continues through May 12th which coincides with the birthday of Florence Nightingale the founder of modern nursing. Many events are celebrated in honor of the dedication, commitment and devotion to duty of nurses and midwives and their contributions to the health care profession across nations.
She emphasized that nurses and midwives constitute the largest number of health care professionals within the health care continuum in all settings reaching at least 68 percent among other valuable professional partners namely, Pharmacist, Doctors, Physiotherapist, Biomedical Scientist and Nutritionist inter alia. She also mentioned some of the challenges that nurses and midwives faced which included lack of adequate accommodation, delays in the payment of salaries of newly recruited nurses and the refusal of the government to employ graduate nurses. She advocated that the National Health Insurance Scheme should be redefined to address the current challenges it is facing. She again called on the government to bring back allowances for student nurses taking into consideration the fact that student nurses now pay close to ghc4000 as school fees per academic year.
Other speakers including the regional director for health Dr. Winfred Ofosu, the
Regional chief nursing Officer, the Jirapa district director for health and a host of others presents speeches acknowledging the contributions of nurses and midwives towards the effective and efficient delivery of health services in Ghana. They all entreated the nurses and midwives present to follow the examples of their founder Florence Nightingale who showed a lot of dedication in taking care of the sick and the disabled. The occasion was also used to honor the regional best nurse for the year 2016, Madam Olivier Dapilah with a citation.
The Deputy Upper West Regional minister reiterated governments commitment to the delivery of quality health services which is exhibited in the building of many hospitals throughout the country. These hospitals he said will also provide ready employment for nurses and midwives. He entreated nurses to patronize the national sanitation day initiated by the NDC government to help ensure cleanliness in our surroundings. He further aided all to preach peace and eschew violence as we draw closer to election 2016. Lastly, he called on nurses to help in the fight against HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases that are still recording high numbers in the region.
A group of nurses performed a short drama titled the alcoholic nurse. The essence of the drama was to preach against alcoholism in nursing practice and its bad effects on both nurses and their clients.
The weeklong celebration came to an end and delegates and invited quest returned to their various destinations after taking their refreshment.
By Pius Doozie
Freelance Journalist
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