The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) of Ghana's Acting Registrar has highlighted a critical juncture in the professional training system for nurses and midwives. This situation arises due to the increasing student population and the challenges faced by educational institutions and programs in maintaining quality standards.

Madam Philomina Woolley emphasizes the pivotal role of the interaction between students and lecturers in assessing the effectiveness of the teaching and learning process. She also underscores the importance of implementing quality assurance measures, such as accreditation, support, and supervision, to ensure that the educational process is closely monitored and maintained at the desired standards.

“We are at a crossroads in the training of nurses and midwives in Ghana because the Nursing and Midwifery Training institutions are busting at themselves with an increasing student population.

“The increase in student population has not seen a commiserate increase in infrastructure and human resources,” Madam Woolley said at an ongoing Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Conference of Heads of Health Training Institutions (COHHETI) in Bolgatanga.

Speaking on the theme: “Quality assurance and accreditation in the training of healthcare professionals: The anchor for quality education,” the Acting Registrar said training institutions overadmitted students to the extent that some did not have spaces to sit.

“I know that in some of the schools, a whole class says they are having online education in nursing. And I heard someone say that we are praying that one day, the NMC will understand that we are in the 20th Century, so we should do online nursing.

“We the stakeholders, therefore, cannot assure the public we serve, of the quality of some of our training institutions and programmes,” Madam Woolley said.

According to her, clinical attachment students at different hospitals were more than just the patients they cared for.

“When you go to some of the hospitals, the trainee nurses and midwives are even more than the patients.”

The Acting Registrar stated that nursing and midwifery training could not be exceptional and that strict adherence to educational program accreditation requirements and standards was necessary for quality assurance in education and the accreditation of educational programs.

“Commencing nursing and midwifery training programmes without the due professional accreditation from the regulatory body which is statutorily mandated to undertake the accreditation is tantamount not only to being an enemy to the core tenets of quality assurance in nursing and midwifery education but also an enemy to the State,” she said.

Madam Woolley added that quality in nursing and midwifery education was a multi-faceted phenomenon that called for the joint efforts of all key stakeholders, insisting that “We need the quality.”

In a world where people's health depends on the knowledge and abilities of healthcare professionals, Professor Ahmed Abdullai Jinapor, Acting Director-General of the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission (GTEC), stated that maintaining the highest standards of education and training is not only a moral requirement but also a matter of choice.

“The quality of healthcare education is the cornerstone upon which the foundation of any nation’s healthcare system rests. It doesn’t only affect the lives of individuals, but also determines the overall health and well-being of a society.

“In developing countries such as ours, where healthcare resources are often limited, the need for high-quality training of healthcare professionals is even more critical since it solves the human resource challenge of our healthcare system,” he said.

The Acting Director-General of GTEC expressed that the healthcare sector holds great significance, as it pertains to the health and welfare of both individuals and communities, making it a noble and essential field.

“It is imperative that those who aspire to become healthcare professionals receive education of the highest quality to ensure that they are prepared to meet the challenges and complexities of modern healthcare,” he said.