Accra, Aug. 4, GNA - The Ghana Registered Nurses Association (GRNA) on Tuesday said it would strictly enforce its code of ethics and ensure that recalcitrant members were sanctioned to uphold the image of the profession.

The Association expressed worry over the gradual dwindling of public trust and confidence in Nursing and Midwifery services mostly at public health facilities, as a result of poor attitudes exhibited by some of its members, who were often described as "unfriendly, saucy, cruel, callous and inhuman".

Mr George Kumi Kyeremeh, President of GRNA, who made this known in Accra on Tuesday at the opening of a five-day workshop, said the Millennium Development Goals(MDGs) on health would be achieved if high standards of professionalism were exhibited by all members in the public health care delivery system.

The theme for the workshop is: "Achieving MDGs 4 and 5: Addressing the Falling Standards in Nursing and Midwifery Services in Ghana towards Quality Improvements."

He said although majority of nurses and midwives exhibited high levels of professionalism, there were a few of them whose attitudes constantly dragged the image of the noble profession in the mud. He said the situation was unacceptable because nursing and midwifery were pivotal to public health and required that the staff delivered services that met all professional standards and to the satisfaction of clients and the community as a whole. Mr Kyeremeh, who doubles as the President of the Ghana Registered Midwives Association and the Registrar of Nursing and Midwifery Council, said the MDGs 4 and 5, seeks to reduce child mortality and improvement in maternal health by 2015.

Mrs Abigail Kyei, International Midwives Adviser, International Confederation of Midwives (ICM), commended the leadership of nurses and midwives in Ghana for exercising exemplary initiatives in addressing problems.

She reminded nurses and midwives of their pledge to support, serve and help people in need of health care services. Mrs Kyei said records showed that achieving the MDGs would prove to be most challenging with slower progress in most developing countries. She said the United Nations Secretary General, Mr Ban Ki-Moon had expressed concern about the unlikelihood of this goals to be achieved by 2015.

Mrs Kyei noted that the significant challenges to the MDGs are poverty, lack of access to health care, reduced number of skilled healthcare providers and inadequate health care resources. She said it was heartbreaking that in the 21st century maternal health and child care were still facing challenges in developing countries, with unacceptably high indices in both maternal and child mortality rates.

Mrs. Kyei said the poor attitudes of some nurses and midwives had often resulted in preventable deaths.

In a speech read on his behalf, Dr Elias Sory, Director-General of the Ghana Health Services called on health workers to better position themselves to be able to improve upon health care services in the country. 04 Aug. 09