The Ghanaian nurse. How did standards fall this low?

Evelyn Amoako Features Oct - 18 - 2016 , 09:56

A cursory look at recent stories and articles in the media reveals several reports of poor quality care provided to patients, as well as unprofessional attitudes of nurses in the course of their duties.

While there are nurses providing good care to patients in several facilities, their numbers are few and it is high time the leaders and authorities in the nursing profession put measures in place to ensure that good standards are maintained and that patients do not suffer unduly in their quest to seek health care.

I usually have my heart in my arms anytime I have to go to hospital for any reason. When a friend called that her son had been admitted to hospital, I hoped for the best care for him. Indeed, the temperature settled and the baby was well within three days and they were discharged. When I visited, I could not help but take notice of the number of nurses who had earphones in their ears while on duty or were busy on whatsapp or facebook. When I casually asked one of the nurses whether she was "facebooking" while on duty, she confidently responded in the affirmative. The sad part is that she saw nothing wrong with that behaviour.

On another occasion, a nurse who had come to attend to the baby was playing very loud music, waking the baby up in the process; after we had struggled to put him to sleep. I can share several experiences other people have had trying to seek care at our health facilities. The main viewpoint here is that, standards of nursing have fallen so low and something needs to be done as a matter of urgency. A lot of people have lost faith in the nurses.

The causes of this problem include the calibre of individuals who are admitted into the nursing schools. While many nurses in the past saw the profession as a calling and were passionate about their job, many individuals today see nursing as the last resort after they are unable to get admission into the university or polytechnic. Indeed, the allowances that are provided for nursing students also attract students to nursing schools. As a result, there is little or no motivation to go the extra mile in the provision of care to patients.

Again, politicisation and privatisation of the siting of training institutions have resulted in the springing up of nursing and health assistant training institutions in every corner of the country with little or no monitoring. Many parliamentary aspirants use the siting of nursing training colleges as part of their campaign promises. While health assistant training schools were established in the past to train certificate assistants to bridge the gap between nurses-patient ratio, the presence of this cadre is also a contributory factor. In my candid opinion, this cadre of nurses have outlived their usefulness and should be scrapped. The Nursing and Midwifery Council as the regulatory body should ensure that schools that are built have adequate infrastructure and that there are qualified personnel to teach students.

Furthermore, nurse managers in public facilities are not doing enough to ensure that standards are maintained and that recalcitrant nurses are punished for their negligence. It is interesting to note that when the same nurses in public facilities are working as part-time nurses in private facilities, they provide excellent services. There is the need for nurse managers and administrators to provide orientation to new nurses when they are employed and continuous service education for the older ones.

While punitive measures should be enforced against nurses who go contrary to regulations, a reward system should be put in place for excellent nurses to serve as a motivation to others.