The President of the Ghana College of Nurses and Midwives (GCNM), Professor Mrs Victoria Bam, has appealed to the government to urgently fill vacancies of over 4,000 nurses who have emigrated for greener pastures.

She said this was necessary because those left behind could face burnout and stress.

The President of GCNM was speaking in an interview on the sidelines of the College’s 8th Annual General Meeting (AGM) and 4th Scientific Conference at Gomoa Fetteh in the Central region.

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It was held on the theme; “A decade of nursing and midwifery specialist education in Ghana: Innovation and high impact interventions towards Universal Health Coverage (UHC)".

Prof. Bam noted that though emigration was not new, the current situation was alarming, attributing the situation to poor remuneration and conditions of service, which must be improved.

She said: “When we talk about conditions of service it’s not only the salary, but to meet the health and educational needs of their families and be able to make progress in life."  

The GCNM President expressed concern over the lack of adequate resources in the various facilities and called on the government to resource the facilities to enable them to execute their mandate effectively.

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She said: “As a nurse, it is so frustrating when you know so well that you have the knowledge and skills to help a patient, but you lack basic resources to work.

“We have graduated nurses and midwives who are sitting at home. The more you use your skills, the more competent you become. We acknowledge the fact that there are financial challenges in the country, but the issue is that they are migrating and we need urgent action to curb the menace,” she added.

Ms Hannah Akua Oparebea Acquah, Rector, GCNM, said one sure way to motivate and retain the critical workforce would be to provide more opportunities for professional growth through higher education.

Former Registrar, Nurses and Midwives Council, Reverend Mrs Veronica Darko said the journey towards Universal Health Coverage demanded innovation, creativity and a steadfast commitment to improving the lives of people.

Rev. Mrs Darko acknowledged the importance of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and emerging technologies in the health system and assured of the College’s preparedness to embrace them.

The Minister of Health, Kwaku Agyeman Manu said empowering nurses and midwives and developing their skills through specialisation, would have a positive impact on Ghana to achieving UHC and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

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He assured the leadership of government’s support for the growth and development of the College.

He said: “The government will continue to strengthen and increase investment in nurses’ and midwives’ education, training and capacity building in leadership and research.

“We will continue to create the needed enabling environment, we will continue to recognise and adequately remunerate specialists trained from the College and we will continue to support specialisation of nurses and midwives.”

The conference was to network, share ideas and discuss the challenges and progress as well as projections for the ensuing years.

This year’s conference also marked the 10th anniversary of the establishment of specialist nursing and midwifery training in Ghana.

A total of 49 associate members and 178 members from Accra, Kumasi and Tamale training sites, who have met all necessary requirements were inducted into the College.