Accra: Upper East Region Nurses and midwives in the Upper East Region are seeking improved infrastructure, fair remuneration, specialized training, and greater representation in health policy decisions to enable them to deliver quality healthcare services. These concerns were highlighted during a regional gathering to mark the International Nurses Day under the theme, 'Our Nurses, Our Future. Empowered Nurses Save Lives.'
According to Ghana News Agency, Dr. Michael Wombeogo, the Dean of the Faculty of Health and Allied Sciences at the Regentropfen University College at Kansoe Namoo in the Bongo District, delivered an address as the Keynote Speaker. He described nurses and midwives as the foundation of Ghana's healthcare system and emphasized the need for addressing persistent challenges affecting service delivery in the region. Dr. Wombeogo noted that despite recent allocations of nurses and midwives, the Upper East Region continued to face a significant shortage of healthcare personnel, creating gaps in maternal, newborn, and child healthcare services.
Dr. Wombeogo highlighted the need for modern maternity wards, reliable electricity, clean water systems, and sanitation facilities to improve healthcare outcomes. He stated that improved infrastructure, fair remuneration and incentives, specialized training, leadership opportunities, and safe working conditions are what nurses and midwives in the Upper East Region want. The difficulties faced by nurses working in conflict-prone and underserved communities such as Bawku and Nalerigu were also addressed, where health workers contend with high workloads, burnout, and security concerns.
The Dean praised nurses and midwives for their resilience and dedication, describing them as trusted professionals who continued to provide essential healthcare services despite challenging circumstances. He further called for deliberate efforts to promote women into leadership positions within the health sector, noting the underrepresentation of women in decision-making roles despite constituting the majority of the nursing workforce.
Dr. Wombeogo urged the government and stakeholders to expand specialized training in areas such as postpartum hemorrhage management, pregnancy-induced hypertension, and neonatal care to reduce maternal and infant mortality. He also emphasized the role of nurses and midwives as nation-builders and called for greater public appreciation of their contributions.
Dr. Braimah Baba Abubakari, the Upper East Regional Director of the Ghana Health Service (GHS), in a speech read on his behalf, urged nurses to renew their commitment to professional development, empathy, and clinical excellence in response to rising public expectations. He stressed that true empowerment within the nursing profession was rooted in continuous learning, self-improvement, and unwavering adherence to professional ethics. Dr. Abubakari noted the critical timing of this call for greater dedication, as the expansion of free healthcare services across the country continued to raise public expectations of healthcare professionals.