The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) of Ghana, has schooled Senior Nursing and Midwifery Managers at the Upper East Regional Hospital in Bolgatanga on a revalidation policy scheduled to be launched in 2026.
The policy intends to periodically access and confirm the competence, performance and professionalism of practitioners in their respective fields, and would further strengthen the ability of the regulatory body to oversee and regulate the professional register of nurses and midwives to ensure high quality care.
Under the policy, practitioners would be expected to meet a range of requirements designed to show that they were up to date and practicing safely, effectively and promoting continuous learning, reflection and improvement.
Addressing the participants, Mrs Philomena Adjoa Nyarkoa Woolley, the Registrar of the NMC, noted that the policy was not an assessment of professionals’ fitness to practice, but was about promoting good practice across all categories of nurses and midwives.
She said from research, the Council realized that at the end of every year, nurses and midwives rushed to attend workshops to enable them renew their license, which had no effect on patients.
To ensure the renewal of their license had effect on patients, Mrs Woolley said “That is why we brought in revalidation. And for revalidation, you would have the opportunity to have the Continuing Professional Developments (CPDs), and continue to reflect on the care you have been giving to your patients and write reflective notes on that.
“Also, you need someone to discuss your practice with. When we were in practice, we did certain things that we didn’t have the opportunity to discuss the practice, so it stayed with us. But now, the Council is giving everyone the opportunity to discuss the care you render.
“We believe that when these are done, we will have the quality of care that everyone of us wish to have,” the Registrar told the Managers drawn from wards and other specialized units of the hospital including College Principals, tutors, among other officers.
The sensitization programme was part of Mrs Woolley and her team’s three-day working visit to health training institutions and some selected healthcare facilities in the Region to introduce the yet-to-be launched policy of the Council including a “Fitness to Practice” policy to managements and students of the institutions.
The Registrar noted that “It is not only NMC Ghana that is bringing this policy. The policy is worldwide. Just that it is given different names in different countries. We took revalidation because we usually take inspirations from UK, and UK does revalidation. But in America and Canada, they call it recertification,” she explained.
Mrs Woolley expressed hope that every nurse and midwife would uphold the policy and undergo the process, saying, “It is when you the Nurse and Midwife Managers and the ward in-charges do it that you will be able to inform other nurses and midwives to also do it.
“It is worrying when you go to certain places and nurses have not even renewed their license, and without that, how are you practicing? And so Nurse Managers, Assistant Nurse Managers, Principals and Assistant Principals, ensure that everybody who is practicing as a nurse, renew their license,” the Registrar insisted.
Mr Ampem Darko Oklodu Abbey, the Acting Director, Regulations and Compliance of the Council, emphasized that “Revalidation is not optional. It is compulsory for every professional. What it means is that you are renewing your vows with the nursing and midwifery professions.
“If you do not go through the revalidation, you will fall off the register, and when you are to get back onto the register, you will have to go through the same process you went through to get onto it,” he told the Managers.
Mr Moro Sandah Issahaku, the Deputy Nurse Manager of the Hospital, expressed gratitude to management of the NMC for the introduction of the policy, and admonished participants at the programme to disseminate the information about the policy to all nurses and midwives across the region.
The NMC team had since concluded its tour of the region and proceeded to the North East region for similar engagements.
