The Rector of the Ghana College of Nurses and Midwives (GCNM), Hannah Akua Oparebea Acquah, has advised the graduating class of 2022 Nurse Assistant Clinical program of the Family Health Nursing and Midwifery School to aspire to the utmost level in nursing, as higher education was of the essence for practice in today’s complex healthcare system.

Speaking on the theme, “The Ideal Nurse for the 21st Century Ghanaian Healthcare System”, at the 2022 matriculation and graduation ceremony for the Family Health Nursing and Midwifery School, the Rector enumerated a number of attributes that an ideal nurse should exhibit in her line of duty.

Care, empathy, commitment, critical thinking, effective communication skills, professionalism among other attributes were the traits she mentioned, summed up an ideal 21^st Century nurse.

She further admonished both matriculants and graduands to embrace mentorship and supervision from their predecessors and other senior colleagues in the nursing profession.

Welcoming the freshmen and women to the noble profession, Miss Oparebea Acquah reminded them to manage their time and resources well and to take their studies seriously by actively participating in both theoretical and clinical sessions.

In her welcome address, the Ag. Dean of the School of Nursing and Midwifery, Dr. Patience Aniteye, congratulated the graduands and encouraged them to give off their best in the service to humanity. 

To the matriculants, Dr Aniteye admonished the students to brace themselves for the journey ahead and to take advantage of the human and material resources available to facilitate their learning.

She was grateful to Management for the additional infrastructure, including lecture halls, offices for staff, and a conference room to accommodate the increasing population of the School which now stands at over 400 with almost 70%  offering Bachelor of Science in Nursing and Midwifery.

The President of the Family Health University College, Prof. E. Y. Kwawukume congratulated the graduands on their achievements; he entreated them to sharpen the skills acquired in the classroom and to build exceptional work ethics.

He entreated them to show care and empathy in their professional duties, and to let the values inculcated in them by the School reflect in their actions and inactions.

He also encouraged the matriculants to aim for excellence and be disciplined, analytical, and to learn to question knowledge received, in a refined manner.

The Family Health Nursing & Midwifery School’s 2022 matriculation and graduation ceremony had 68 Nursing Assistant Clinical (NAC) students graduating, and 257 freshmen and women, comprising 200 for BSc. Nursing and Midwifery programme, and 57 for NAC programme, also matriculating.

The Family Health School of Nursing and Midwifery is accredited by the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission (GTEC) and the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) of Ghana, and affiliated to the University of Development Studies (UDS), Tamale.

In 2009, the School started offering a two-year certificate programme in Nurse Assistant Clinical (NAC) and a three-year Diploma programme in General Nursing and Midwifery in 2018. In 2019, the School started a Bachelor of Science programme in General Nursing and Midwifery.

The Nursing and Midwifery School is equipped with modern facilities and well-trained lecturers and has churned out thousands of graduates who are working in both private and public health facilities across the country and beyond.