Govt’s decision to reduce nurse training long overdue – GRNMA

The General Secretary of the Ghana Registered Nurses and Midwives Association (GRNMA), Dr David Tenkorang-Twum, has commended the government's decision to decrease the number of nurses and midwives being trained in Ghana. Dr Tenkorang-Twum considers this move to be long overdue. He highlighted concerns about the country producing a surplus of health professionals for which the healthcare sector cannot adequately accommodate.

According to Dr Tenkorang-Twum, Ghana has consistently been training nurses and midwives without factoring in the health sector's capability to absorb them. He expressed his support for the government's move, stating it was in line with the need to ensure trainees acquire the required skills and competencies to meet Ghana's healthcare demands.

Dr Tenkorang-Twum emphasized that nursing, being a skill-based profession, necessitates adequate resources and qualified instructors to train students effectively. He questioned the wisdom of training large numbers of nurses without appropriate resources. He used an analogy, comparing the situation to the University of Ghana, where he noted that the university, with over 35 PhD holders in his program, admits fewer than 200 students annually.

This, he argued, underscores the importance of assessing the capacity and qualifications of lecturers at nursing training institutions before determining how many students they should admit.

Dr Tenkorang-Twum also endorsed the Nursing and Midwifery Council's decision to allocate quotas to nursing training colleges, suggesting this is a step in the right direction. He advocated for the training of individuals to equip them with the necessary skills and competencies to respond to Ghana's healthcare needs. Despite political disagreements over the policy, Dr Tenkorang-Twum stressed that the focus should be on delivering high-quality training and aligning the number of trainees with the country's healthcare requirements.