‘With the launch of the Nursing and Midwifery Strategic Plan and Services framework , we are sure that nursing at the primary level will have a good foundation, such that, the general public will appreciate the work of nursing in the country’, says Catherine Obosu, a Chief Nursing Officer in the Volta Region of Ghana and a participant of the 2018 National Nurses and Midwives Managers and Leaders Conference in Accra; under the theme: “Nurses and Midwives leading the way towards the achievement of universal health coverage in Ghana.”

Together with her colleagues at the conference, they are positive about playing their part to achieve Universal Health Coverage (UHC) in Ghana, which happens to be a mainstay of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal (SDGs) 3: ‘Good Health and Wellbeing’.

UNFPA Ghana is committed to ensuring zero preventable maternal deaths as well as zero unwanted pregnancy in the country hence the Funds support to nursing and midwifery programming including the 2018 National Nurses and Midwives Managers and Leaders Conference.

A highlight of this year’s Conference was the launch of the 5-year Nursing and Midwifery Strategic Plan and Services Framework (2019-2023) by the Ministry of Health with support from UNFPA Ghana and the Maternal and Child Services Program (MCSP) of USAID and the ‘Nursing Now’ campaign in Ghana.

The Deputy Country Representative of UNFPA Ghana, Erika J. Goldson, who chaired the launching ceremony stated in her address that, ‘The Nursing and Midwifery Strategic Plan and Services framework was developed through a consultative process which was built on principles that looked at equity, professionalism, respect for human resources, total nursing care and which seeks to address contextual issues of the SDGs.’

The strategic framework is directed towards making improvements in education and research for nurses and midwives, a reorganisation in midwifery/nursing services, prioritising regulation and professional practice amongst nurses/midwives, creating more robust nursing/midwifery associations and ensuring a more competent nursing and midwifery workforce.

On how the newly launched Nursing and Midwifery Strategic Plan and Services Framework can improve the work of nurses, Catherine said, ‘If you look at the theme and some of the thematic areas, it shows that the profession of nursing and midwifery will be spearheaded in the country, especially to remote areas.”

Her Excellency Samira Bawumia wife of the Vice President of the Republic of Ghana charged nurses to interact with patients in compassion. ‘Treat them with care; make the care you provide memorable, as this can help in the recovery process’, she re-echoed. The “Nursing Now” campaign is a global one intended to improve health in general, as well as the profile and status of nursing worldwide.

The Conference is expected to among many other things, afford leaders in the Nursing and Midwifery sector of Ghana to develop an implementation plan for the new strategic framework. It is equally intended to create an avenue for them to learn of current methods which can be adopted to improve efficiency of nursing and midwifery service delivery at all levels of care.