GRNA engages senior nurse managers on MDGs
Senior Nurse and Midwifery Managers on Monday converged for a two-day workshop to brainstorm on the way forward to the final lap of attaining the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) 4, 5 and 6 by the year 2015.
The managers from the ten regions of the country are expected to come out with practical and workable solutions that would be to Ghana’s advantage and enhance health care delivery systems.
Mr Cosmas Hassan Alhassan, First Vice President of the Ghana Registered Nurses Association (GRNA), said the attainment of the MDG goals with regard to a reduction in under-five and maternal moralities, as well as improved public health care services for the average Ghanaian, still had challenges.
He said the challenges required enhanced efforts by all players in the health sector to bridge the gaps in maternal service delivery in order to meet the MDG target.
He said although a lot had and was being done to realize the achievement of the set goals, it was not certain whether the efforts were enough to propel Ghana into meeting the goals on health.
Mr Alhassan said the anxiety surrounding the optimism as to whether Ghana would make it or not could be removed if nurses and midwives at the helm of affairs in delivering quality obstetrics and gynaecology care, were empowered physically and psychologically to work effectively.
The workshop, which was organised by the Association on the theme: “Enhancing Nursing and Midwifery Contribution towards the Final Lap of MDGs 4, 5 and 6”, would therefore provide participants with a unique platform to openly discuss challenges that had been identified as far as delivering quality services for the average Ghanaian is concerned.
Participants would also look at challenges such as contemporary leadership challenges and solutions, health administration and management procedures, development of protocols in addressing maternal and infant emergency care, as well as critical issues regarding branding of the Ghanaian nurse.
Mr George Kumi Kyeremeh, Chief Nursing and Midwifery Officer, in an address read on his behalf, said the profession was now being strongly subjected to greater public scrutiny and accountable stewardship and that there were clear indications that even much more was going to be demanded from them in the near future.
“Currently, medical knowledge has been demystified by technology where patients can readily access information about their illness and quality care; this coupled with increasing demand for quality care and human right issues presents a special challenge to the nurse and midwife managers in this generation”, he said.
Mr Kyeremeh also noted that the current global village and international goals and standards like the MDGs spelt out further challenges and hence called for a multidisciplinary and well-coordinated approach in dealing decisively with issues at stake.
He commended the Association for its foresight and for demonstrating that it was not only interested in labour issues and conditions of service for the staff, but was also committed in developing the technical and managerial capacities of managers for excellent delivery of health services.
Source: GNA