The Nursing and Midwifery Council (N&MC) has launched a policy document to serve as a guide to nursing, midwifery practitioners and trainees to prepare them physically, mentally and professionally to deliver safe and compassionate care.
The 58-page document, known as the Nursing and Midwifery Fitness to Practice Policy, also serves as a commitment of the council to maintain high standards in nursing and midwifery practice, protect the interest of the public and maintain public confidence in the profession.
The document contains, among others, responsibilities and expectations of practitioners and trainees, ways to report misconduct, steps for handling complaints, sanctions, application for review by a practitioner and functions of fitness to practice committee.
The Minister of Health, Kwabena Mintah Akandoh, in a speech read on his behalf by the Director of Technical Coordination at the Ministry of Health, Hafez Adam, said the policy would ensure excellence, ethics and accountability.
He said it would also address the need for specialised training for nurses to handle non-communicable diseases (NCDs), while ensuring high global standards, among others
The minister said it was important for the council to partner the Ministry of Health to design and implement training programmes that would produce competent nursing specialists across the country.
Mr Akandoh said that the government was making bold investments to address the rising burden of NCDs through the Ghana Medical Care Trust Fund which was aimed at improving access to diagnosis, treatment and management of conditions like cancers, cardiovascular diseases and diabetes.
He further expressed the ministry’s commitment to provide strong leadership and partnership to ensure regulatory, training and practice frameworks aligned with national priorities.
Professionalism
The Registrar of the council, Philomina A. N Wooley, said a practitioner or trainee must have the requisite knowledge, skills and attitude, good health and must be a professional with ethical conduct.
She added that the individual must be free from physical, social, psychological or emotional conditions, as well as not having any form of addictions that would impair their ability to practice nursing and, or midwifery safely.
Ms Wooley called on practitioners and trainees to adhere to the regulations in the documents and to create awareness about the policy.
The Head of Policy and Standards and Guidelines Department, Miriam Bilson, also said the policy would promote ethical awareness among trainees and reinforce accountability and competence among practitioners.
She explained that the document was not meant to punish a practitioner or a trainee, but to ensure that they adhered to the requisite standards of safe practice.
For her part, the Board Chair of the Council, Dr Mary Ama Opare, encouraged practitioners not only to build skills and knowledge but also develop the right values, resilience and commitment to continuous growth.
