Professionals from various fields of health practice gathered in a Stakeholder Consultative meeting to deliberate on procedures of revalidation for Nurse Assistants, Nurses and Midwives in a bid to improve the quality of practice in Ghana.
The meeting, which took place at the Nursing and Midwifery Council on Tuesday 20th February, 2024 discussed the development of a system of revalidation aimed at strengthening the N&MC’s licensing regulation in alignment with the Organization’s mission, which is to secure in the public interest, the highest standards of training and practice of Nursing and Midwifery.
The Acting Registrar of the Council, Mrs. Philomina Woolley, in her opening address told participants that in spite of the Council’s several regulatory practices, there was a public outcry of poor attitudes of Nursing and Midwifery care in Ghana. She added that the Council in a resolution to improve care and service in all fields of Nursing and Midwifery, would therefore introduce the practice of revalidation every five years, for Nurse Assistants, Nurses and Midwives in their various areas of practice.
Mrs. Woolley emphasized that the revalidation exercise was a measure in response to those challenges, in order to build the confidence of clients, patients and the entire public in Nursing and Midwifery practitioners.
Mrs. Woolley announced that the project was being funded by UK Department of Health and Social Care and managed by the Tropical Health and Education Trust (THET) as part of Global Health Workforce Program. This funding, she said, was acquired after a collaborative application with the University of Huddersfield, in the United Kingdom; a team which had worked collaboratively with N&MC Ghana, over the years.
Representative from the University of Huddersfield, Precious Adade Duodu, in his presentation, told participants that the essence of the meeting was to gather some views, and develop a framework and guidelines for the revalidation project which the Nursing and Midwifery Council would introduce in the nearest future.
He reiterated the need for practitioners to incorporate knowledge acquired from the CPD programs in their practices as that was the only way to attain excellence and client satisfaction in their career.
Mr. Duodu said that as part of strategies toward improving practices in the wake of complaints about patient care, nurses and midwives not adhering to the necessary protocols and code of conducts among others, there would be a need to involve the patient, public, practitioners and stakeholders for the acquisition of feedback, while employers and line managers would also be given the mandate to play critical roles in the CPD process for Nurses and Midwives.
He concluded by lauding the Council for utilizing stakeholder consultation strategies in its regulatory roles.
