By Linda Naa Deide Aryeetey
Accra, Aug.16, GNA- About 4000 Ghanaian nurses and midwives left Ghana between January and June 2023 in search of greener pastures abroad.
Data from the Ghana Registered Nurses and Midwives Association (GRNMA) shows that from January to July 2023, a total of 10,209 nurses and midwives sought clearance from the association to travel outside the country.
Speaking at the induction of about 1,500 members and associate with different nursing specialties into the Ghana Nursing and Midwifery College (GNMC) in Accra, Mr Felix Nyante, Head of Health Training Institutions at the Ministry of Health (MOH), admonished health professionals who travel to work outside the country not to stay abroad forever.
“It is our wish that you do not go, so that we stay to build Mother Ghana, if you have made up your mind that tomorrow you are going to the airport, rescind your decision,” he said.
The new members and associates of the college graduated with specialised skills in Emergency, Neonatal, Oncology, Pediatric, Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT) nursing.
He said the health service needed trained health professionals to stand in the gap, saying ‘the service has so much confidence in specialized professionals and that the Government is prepared to use collaborative methods to make healthcare attractive to all.’
Mr Nyante asked the newly inducted professionals to be innovative and transformational leaders and change health outcomes with their acquired skills.
“Don’t let it be business as usual, save lives and prevent maternal deaths,” he said.
The Director General of the Ghana Health Service (GHS), Dr Patrick Kuma-Aboagye, said the service was working to strengthen primary healthcare in the country, using a new model called a Network of Practice.
“The Network of Practice would produce a model health centre as a hub, that has the necessary human, technical, financial expertise, and logistics to handle referrals from lower facilities to ensure access to quality healthcare services,” he said.
He appealed to the graduate to accept posting to rural areas.
Mr Kuma-Aboagye called for the provision of a Nursing and Midwifery Strategy that addressed the needs of primary healthcare and clearly defined the role of the nurses and midwives, leaving no one behind.
He urged the graduates to embrace their new roles with a sense of passion to illuminate the path towards better health care for all.
The Ghana College of Nurses and Midwives is an institution established by an act of parliament 10 years ago to promote specialist education, continuous professional development, postgraduate nursing, midwifery, and related programmes to contribute to the formulation of policies to improve health outcomes.
GNA.