Accra, March 23-GNA – A National Policy Guideline for a Nursing and Midwifery Professional Mentorship Programme (PMP) was on Wednesday launched in Accra to improve the career pathways for nurses and midwives.
The policy developed by the Ministry of Health with funding from the United Nations Populations Fund (UNFPA) is expected to improve nursing and midwifery services in the country.
It was launched by Professor Sheila Tlou, a former Minister for Health, Botswana, and a Chancellor of the Open University.
She encouraged nurses and midwives and take interest in politics to help improve the implementation of policies for nurses and midwives at the national level.
The Ghana’s Minister of Health, Mr Kwaku Agyeman- Manu, in a speech read for him said the policy would reposition the nursing and midwifery profession in the right direction.
He said mentorship was recognized as a method for encouraging professional development in organizations all over the world and the Ministry of Health (MoH) believed it was vital to retain and continue to facilitate the growth of health professionals.
“Mentorship is an integral and strategic tool that can contribute to maintaining the nursing and midwifery standards, improve nursing and midwifery care resulting in an overall positive health outcome,” he said
Mr Agyeman-Manu said Ghana’s quest and roadmap to accelerate the achievement of Universal Health Coverage (UHC) must be driven by strong, highly skilled and competent health professionals through such mentorship programmes.
He said the mentorship programme would guide nurses and midwives in their professional, personal, and interpersonal growth, promote the understanding of factors that helped the health professionals to integrate theory into practice and improve workplace engagement and morale of nurses and midwives.
Mrs Martha Gyansa-Lutterodt, Director of Technical Coordination at the Ministry of Health, said the policy would serve as a formal structure and system of mentorship in nursing and midwifery and other professionals.
“The five- year Strategic Plan and services framework required that we ‘Design culturally sensitive and professionally appropriate mentorship program’ as key means of addressing high quality nursing and midwifery practice and client care,” she said.
Mr Barnabas Yeboah, Chief Programme Officer for Nursing and Midwifery, MOH, advised mentors to dedicate sufficient time for mentoring, assign tasks that stretch the mentees and build relationships with focus on intra-professional and gender, race, or equality.
He tasked the mentees to be respectful and corporate with their mentors.
Source: Ghana News Agency
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