Moves to shut down illegal nursing schools
Freetown, March (SLENA) – The Sierra Leone Nurses and Midwives Board has expressed dissatisfaction over the proliferation of illegal Nursing Schools in the country.
Speaking during a courtesy call on the Minister of Health and Sanitation at her Youyi Building office in Freetown, the Chief Nursing Officer and Chairman of the Board, Matron Mabel Carew expressed the urgent need to all mushroom Nursing Schools, noting that nursing is not a profession for drop-outs as it deals with human lives.
She described the Board as a Statutory Board established by an Act of Parliament and conducts entrance and State Board exams for recruitment into the civil service. Accreditation, the Chief Nursing Officer said, is also provided to both local and foreign professionals to practice in Sierra Leone.
The Board members advocated for the provision of a plot of land to develop their Secretariat, Specialized Nursing Training, establishment of a Council and systems structures and procedures for nursing practices in Sierra Leone.
In her response, Health and Sanitation Minister, Miatta Kargbo said she was passionate about the health of this country as a nation, noting that about 90 percent of the country’s population cannot provide the resources for overseas treatment.
The minister noted that nursing is the backbone in health care and registered her support for the closure of all nursing schools operating without an accreditation from the Nurses and Midwives Board.
She re-affirmed her commitment to address indiscipline, unethical behavior and gross negligence of duty by staff with a view to ensuring quality service and patient’s care in all government health facilities.
Madam Kargbo reiterated the need to set examples against indiscipline and against Proprietors and Proprietresses running mushroom nursing schools, stressing the need for effective monitoring and supervision and strong partnership with the Board to meet some of the challenges facing the Board and the Ministry.
The President of the Sierra Leone Midwives Association, Dr. Joan Shepherd, Registrar, Sierra Leone Nurses and Midwives Board, Mrs. Hannah Valcarcel and the President of the Nurses Association of Sierra Leone, Mr. Senessie Magao in their respective capacity commended the minister for her dynamism and efforts in ensuring that the country’s health care system improves to an acceptable standard.
JAK/KK/MOHS/SLENA
Stay with Sierra Express Media, for your trusted place in news!
© 2013, https:. All rights reserved.
