By Godfred Aaneamenga Polkuu
Bolgatanga, Sept. 14, GNA – Mr Richard Addah, a neonatal nurse at the Upper East Regional Hospital, has been adjudged the Upper East Regional Best Nurse for the second time, following a series of innovative interventions aimed at improving patient care and enhancing the experience of children and their families in health facilities.
Mr Addah, who first won the regional title in 2022 and later emerged second runner-up in the national competition, described the latest recognition as both an honour and a call to greater professional responsibility.
“I should say that I feel honoured. If you look at the number of nurses we have in the Upper East Region, and I happen to go through and come out as the best nurse for the region, I think that it is an honour done to me, and I am actually excited about it,” he told the Ghana News Agency in an interview in Bolgatanga.
Having secured the regional title for the second time, Mr Addah said he was now focused on winning the national award.
“I emerged the Upper East Region Best Nurse again. I am aiming the ultimate at the national level, to be the National Best Nurse for the year,” he said.
He noted that the award was not merely a moment for celebration but also imposed a responsibility on the recipient to serve as a role model for fellow nurses and aspiring health professionals.
“It comes with some degree of hard work. It comes with that burden and a responsibility placed on me to live a certain kind of life professionally, just so that I project the nursing profession high, live an exemplary life for young ones to want to emulate,” he said.
Mr Addah attributed the achievement to several quality improvement initiatives and interventions he had introduced as part of routine professional practice.
Among them is a grief management document known as the “Certificate of Life,” designed to support families dealing with the loss or critical illness of children.
He explained that the certificate helped parents preserve meaningful memories of children who died while also creating opportunities for health professionals to engage families of critically ill children.
“It is not just meant for children we lose, but then with a child in critical condition, the clinician will understand the disease trajectory, but the parents may not understand,” the specialist nurse explained.
Mr Addah said the initiative created an opportunity for clinicians to discuss a child’s condition with parents and other family members, help them understand the likely progression of the illness and their role in the care process.
The award-winning nurse also highlighted the establishment of a children’s playroom at the Upper East Regional Hospital and called for continued support for the facility.
The playroom provides recreational and educational activities for children on admission, with teachers from the Ghana Education Service (GES) assisting with learning activities.
“We now have a children’s playroom in the Upper East Region for all the children who come on admission. We have educational materials there, and we have two teachers from GES who come in and undertake these recreational activities for the children, and then they even engage them in learning activities as well,” he said.
Mr Addah further developed a client care portal for the hospital to enable patients and their relatives to submit complaints, suggestions and concerns regarding services.
He explained that the portal was being used as a quality improvement tool to help management identify weaknesses in healthcare delivery.
“It’s actually a quality improvement initiative. Most of the complaints that we pick up from clients border on core elements of care,” he added.
Mr Addah indicated that the innovation had attracted the attention of health authorities in the region, with discussions underway to explore its adoption by district hospitals.
According to him, Dr Braimah Baba Abubakari, the Upper East Regional Director of Health Services, was considering ways to extend the client care portal to other hospitals across the region.
“If we make some headway around that area, hopefully we may have all other district hospitals in the region beginning to have the client care portal in their facilities where a client can easily engage with hospital management on things that border on quality of care,” he said.
In addition to the patient-centred initiatives, Mr Addah played a key role in developing a logo for the Upper East Regional Hospital, which has since been adopted by the facility.
He said the initiative formed part of efforts to strengthen the hospital’s identity and support its rebranding agenda.
Mr Addah said the latest recognition was not only a personal achievement but also an opportunity for nurses to champion patient-centred care, innovation and continuous improvement within the health system.
GNA
Edited by Caesar Abagali/Lydia Kukua Asamoah
Reporter: Godfred Aaneamenga Polkuu
Reporter’s email: [email protected]