By Godfred A. Polkuu
Pusu-Namongo (U/E), Oct. 15, GNA-Mr Emmanuel Tibil Panzin, the Upper East Regional Chairman of the Ghana Registered Nurses and Midwives Association (GRNMA), has cautioned nurses and midwives against signing medical forms for patients.
He said some nurses and midwives were in the habit of signing such forms for monetary purposes and issued a stern warning to members against the practice, noting that, “It is not part of our job description as nurses and midwives.”
Mr Panzin gave the caution at a day’s training workshop for recently inaugurated Regional, Municipal and District executives of the GRNMA.
The workshop was intended to empower the executives on unionism, build their confidence levels and equip them with leadership skills to manage the affairs of the Association across the 15 Municipalities and Districts of the Region.
The executives were schooled in medico-legal issues, conflict management, leadership in the trade union and the need for them to understand their roles and responsibilities as leaders.
Mr Panzin, one of the facilitators of the training workshop, insisted that no nurse or midwife should ever sign a medical form, and told the executives that, “These are issues we should let our members know.”
He said the initiative to train them was part of Mrs Perpetual Ofori-Ampofo, the Association President’s five-year strategic plan for the GRNMA, which included education, training and research.
He advised nurses and midwives to strictly adhere to the ethics of the nursing and midwifery professions, adding that it was unethical for them to disclose patients’ medical information, insisting that such information must be strictly confidential.
The Chairman, also a tutor at the Nursing Training College in Bolgatanga, said patients’ medical information was “Privilege information,” which must be kept secret and never shared.
Mr Moses Salifu Duut, the Second Vice Chairman of the Association, in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) after he facilitated the workshop on conflict management and difficult conversation, noted that several nurses and midwives bore grudges among themselves and even with management members at their various facilities.
According to him, some of the conflicts arose from misunderstandings and perceptions, and indicated that some nurses and midwives did not undergo orientation as part of their employment procedures and therefore, lacked knowledge on how to communicate in basic conflict situations at work.
Mr Duut said “If there are basic conflicts, the resolution is difficult. Most of them use avoidance, and in avoidance, we cannot have difficult conversation.
“So as District and Sub-district leaders, they will need to have difficult conversations to foster a better working environment between them and their superiors, and the general membership of the Association,” he said.
On anger management, he said even though it was normal for people to get angry over issues, anger clouded reasoning and the approach they might use to resolve conflicts in their anger state would be wrong.
He admonished the executives to always endeavour to calm themselves down and avoid the use of anger and assumptions to handle conflicts.
“So that is why we must have difficult conversation, without which people walk about with piled up emotions, and at any given time, they can explode in anger and use abusive language to worsen their case, which is not good for the running of our Association,” he said.
Mr Francis Wuni, the Association’s Regional Secretary, facilitated the programme on unionism, the history of the GRNMA, their roles as executives, and urged them to promote the dignity of the Association and the nursing and midwifery professions in their respective jurisdictions.
A participant, Mrs Sylvia Antwi Boasiako Frimpong, thanked the leadership of the GRNMA and said the training would enable the executives to effectively run the affairs of the GRNMA at the District and Municipal levels.
GNA