Decision to scrap Nurse Assistant programmes reversed after backlash

The decision to scrap nurse assistant programmes in the various health training institutions across the country has been reversed, the Nursing and Midwifery Council has announced. It is unclear what triggered the suspension of the decision which was to take effect from the 2019/2020 academic year but believed to have largely been influenced by the public uproar that greeted the announcement Wednesday. A regulatory policy from the NMC dated June 28, 2018 asked all health training institutions to “plan towards the folding up” the Nurse Assistant Clinical (NAC) and Nurse Assistant Preventive (NAP) programmes. The decision taken in consultation with the Ministry of Health, per the directive, was aimed at strengthening the degree and diploma awarding programmes in Nursing and Midwifery to improve the standard of practice of nursing and midwifery. READ: Nurse Assistant programmes to be suspended from 2019 “The statistics shows that there are adequate numbers of NAC/NAP Practitioners for the health sector. This was affirmed during a Human Resource Forum held by the Ministry of Health early this year at the Capital View Hotel in Koforidua to review the Country’s Human Resource needs for the various cadre of Nurses and Midwives in the Country among others,” the letter explained. This was met with public outcry Wednesday as some people criticized the government for such a decision and suggested it could be a move by the government to cut down on monies paid allowances to trainees. But barely 24 hours after the decision to scrap the two programmes broke, the NMC on Thursday issue a new directive reversing the earlier decision contained in the June 28, 2018 letter. A letter by the NMC dated July 5 and addressed to the principals and heads of the various health training institutions said the Council was withdrawing the letter that directed the various institutions to scrap the two programmes. According to a Graphic Online report, the Council said it had taken note of the “unintended consequences of the contents” of the June 28 letter hence the decision to withdraw same. By 3news.com|Ghana]]>