Accra, April 25, GNA - President John Agyekum Kufuor has challenged the West African College of Nursing (WACN) to set high standards for nursing practice and education by continually updating its curriculum. "Whereas basically the Florence Nightingale attributes of compassionate and a good-hearted caring Samaritan must still be the anchor of the good professional, there can be no doubt that, the competent nurse of today must be equipped with the masterly of Information, Communication Technology (ICT) and a good appreciation of the current demands of health delivery".

President Kufuor said scientific and technological inventions and applications were attaining near magical proportions, as there was now the laser treatment of diseases that previously required excision while the endoscope equipment and other procedures, which enable the exploration of the body to remove undesirable growth had become available through the ICT.

"It is, therefore, imperative that nursing adapts quickly to these new development", he said, at the launching of the Ghana Chapter of the WACN's Silver Jubilee Celebration at the Accra International Conference Centre on Tuesday.

The theme for the month-long celebration is "West African College of Nursing; 25 Years of Existence and its Impact on Nursing." President Kufuor said strange new pandemics plaguing the world such as the HIV/AIDS and the Avian Flu also demanded versatility on the part of well-trained nurses in patient management and announced a one billion-cedi Government support to boost the operation of the College. Touching on the brain drain that had become a sad affliction of the nursing profession, he said, it was an impossible task to restrain nurses, who were so much in demand all over the world from leaving. "But the defining character of all true nurses must be the willingness to sacrifice. This is how Florence Nightingale made her name, forgoing personal comfort during the Crimean War to nurse wounded soldiers back to life."

President Kufuor said the Government within the limits of the budget was doing its best for health care professionals including nurses, citing, the recently introduced incentives like hire-purchase arrangements for vehicles and mortgage for housing, which, he noted with time would spread to cover as many public servants as possible. The Health Minister, Major Courage Quarshigah (rtd), told nurses not to let money become their overriding objective to the extent of abandoning their work through strikes and deserting to seek greener pastures.

Government, he said, sympathized with them and added; "state your case and stick to your calling". Mrs Miriam Hornby Odoi, a Past President of the College, reminded nurses that they owed it to themselves to raise the image of their profession.

The Chairperson for the occasion, Miss Joyce Aryee, who is also the Chief Executive of the Ghana Chamber of Mines, asked the College to make nursing attractive because as she put it, "there is real value in it but not money". 25 April 06