Mrs Eva Mensah, Director of Nursing and Midwifery at the Ghana Health Service (GHS), has revealed that 62 per cent of Senior High Schools (SHSs) in Ghana do not have nurses stationed in their infirmaries.
She said the absence of qualified nurses jeopardised student safety during emergencies, especially for those with chronic conditions such as type-1 diabetes, kidney problems, and asthma.
Mrs Mensah disclosed at the Senior Nursing and Midwifery Managers Conference held at Gomoa Fetteh in the Central Region.
The conference was on the theme “Re-strengthening Nursing and Midwifery Service Delivery in Primary Healthcare towards Achieving Universal Health Coverage: The Role of Nursing and Midwifery Leaders.”
Mrs Mensah expressed concern over reported student deaths in school infirmaries and called for urgent reforms.
She said the GHS would roll out a school nursing initiative to ensure equitable distribution of health professionals, particularly nurses, across schools nationwide.
Mrs Mensah outlined key strategies being implemented to improve and regulate nursing and midwifery practice, including the Digital and Paediatric Nursing Improvement Programme.
“A major focus is the Digital and Paediatric Nursing Improvement Programme, which leverages e-learning platforms to roll out professional guides and protocols.
“To date, this initiative has seen about 15,000 nurses enrolled and 12,000 completing the foundational standards for nursing practice,” she said.
Mrs Mensah also announced plans to formalise home care services under the supervision of hospital and district managers to ensure discharged patients receive regulated care from officially assigned nurses.
Ms Ida Ngyedu, a representative of the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC), emphasised that while the Council sets high standards for training and practice, managers must ensure these are upheld in daily clinical work.
She said the Professional Code of Conduct and Licence Renewal Mechanism are essential for public protection and urged managers to promote licence renewal as a commitment to lifelong learning and continuous competence.
Ms Ngyedu also highlighted the role of managers in curbing professional misconduct, particularly regarding inappropriate social media use, citing instances of unprofessional uniform display and unauthorised sharing of educational content.
