By Maxwell Awumah
Ho, Aug. 31, GNA- The Governing Board and Management of the University of Health and Allied Sciences (UHAS) has appointed the first male nurse in Ghana to attain the rank of an Associate Professor and a Dean.
Professor Peter Adatara has since August 1, 2023, assumed the position as the Dean of the School of Nursing and Midwifery.
Prior to this appointment, he was Head of the Department of Nursing, School of Nursing and Midwifery for six years.
Following up on the footprints of Prof Lydia Aziato, the Vice Chancellor of UHAS, for breaking the ceiling as the first nurse to attain full Professor rank in Ghana and West Africa and setting a second as the first nurse to become a VC of a University, bringing depth to the nursing and midwifery profession in the country and beyond.
Education
Prof. Adatara had his Diploma in Registered General Nursing (RGN) education at the Bolgatanga Nurses Training College and later pursued a BSc. in Nursing and an MPhil in Health Service Management at the University of Ghana.
He holds a PhD in Nursing Science from Nelson Mandela University, South Africa, and recently graduated from the University of Southampton, UK, with an MSc in Gerontology.
He also holds professional diplomas in Business administration and Human Resource Management from the Institute of Commercial Management, UK.
Work Experience
Prof. Adatara had rich and varied work experience prior to joining the University of Health and Allied Sciences. He worked as a lecturer at the Faculty of Medical Sciences at the Presbyterian University College, Ghana, before joining UHAS in 2013.
He has also worked in various institutions within the Ministry of Health and the Ghana Health Services in various capacities as a General Nurse, Nurse Tutor and Clinical Coordinator.
However, before joining academia, he worked as a Medical Supervisor, at Danone Baby Nutrition and a Medical Supervisor, at Projects Abroad, Ghana.
Research Interest
His areas of research interest include maternal and child health, health policy and systems research, health service management and leadership, non-communicable diseases, clinical nursing and nursing education, nursing informatics and geriatric nursing. He has over twenty publications in peer-reviewed journals.
The Dean, who is in his early 40s, told the Ghana News Agency, in an interview, that his sudden rise was anchored on dedication, perseverance, commitment, tenacity of purpose and waiting on the Lord, believing beyond the skies is the starting point for him.
He said the faculty strength of SONAM was 31 with three Associate Professors and two Senior lecturers with the rest being lecturers and assistant lecturers.
Prof. Adatara’s interests revolved around preaching the gospel, swimming, football, adventure/travelling and Bible studies.
The Dean hails from Yua in the Upper East region, where he started his primary and Junior and Senior High School, and continued to the Bolgatanga Nursing Training College in 1999.
Prof. Adatara recounted the pivotal moments that solidified his passion for healthcare, from his decision to pursue a nursing career, the challenges he overcame, his experiences as a student nurse and his encounter with patients, all of which, illuminated his journey to understand the true essence of healing beyond the medical realm.
Prof. Adatara has over 50 research publications to his credit, with four taking place in 2023 and the latest being “A Qualitative Study on Frontline Nurses Experiences and Challenges in Providing Care for COVID-19 Patients in the Volta Region of Ghana: Implications for Nursing Management and Nursing Workforce Retention.
He also benefited from the conference presentations within and internationally including the Yonsei University, Seoul, South Korea.
He has served and continues to serve on Boards and Committees, some of which are members of the academic board of UHAS; the Chairman, Quality Assurance Sub-Committee and the Institutional Affiliation Committee of UHAS among others.
School of Nursing and Midwifery (SONAM)
The School of Nursing and Midwifery (SONAM), a constituent school of the University of Health and Allied Sciences since its inception in 2012, remains one of the leading avenues for the promotion of Nursing and Midwifery education.
In addition to his mandate of fostering Nursing and Midwifery education, is the focus on the development of competent practical-based and research-oriented nurses and midwives for the overall advancement of the noble professions of Nursing and Midwifery.
Poised to deliver on its mandate of providing higher education in the Nursing and Midwifery Sciences through teaching and research for candidates, aptly qualified and capable of benefiting from such education, SONAM currently offers three Bachelor’s degrees from the school’s three departments of Nursing, Midwifery and Public Health Nursing.
These degrees are offered through the regular programme, sandwich and diploma-to-degree (top-up) programmes to better advance Nursing and Midwifery education.
SONAM has ongoing collaborations with York University, Canada (for capacity building in Ph.D. & preceptor training); Yonsei University, South Korea (for Curriculum development in Public Health Nursing & Clinical and Vocational Training); University of Basel, Switzerland; and EU-HITA (Healthcare Information Technology for Africa) Project, Germany (for m-learning and e-learning innovations in Nursing).
GNA