Nkawkaw, April 28, GNA - The Nurses and Midwives Council has reviewed its training curriculum to enhance the country's health care delivery system.

The review includes training in Integrated Management of Childhood Illness (IMCI), Intermittent Prevention Treatment of Malaria (IPTM), Adolescent Sexual Reproductive Health Services and Integrated Disease Surveillance and Responses.

The rest are Community based Health Planning and Services (CHPS), Updates in Safe Motherhood and HIV/AIDS and Comprehensive Abortion Care. Mr Felix Nyante, Deputy Registrar in charge of Supervision and Regional Co-ordination at the Council, announced this at the graduation of 39 nurses at Holy Family Nurses Training College at Nkawkaw on Monday.

He explained that the review would enable nurses educate patients on preventive health care programmes to prevent them from contracting diseases.

Mr Nyante noted that professionally accredited Nursing and Midwifery Training Institutions in the country had increased from 25 to 75 within the last three years while the number of clinical training sites or hospital for students nurses and midwives to gain practical skills and competence remained the same.

He said as a result of the limited health institutions for practical training for nurses and midwives, the governing board of the council had placed a temporarily embargo on the establishment of nursing and midwifery training institution or any of its auxiliary programmes in the Greater Accra Region.

Ms Annie Appoh, Principal of the college, said the college, which started the Registered Nursing Programme in 1999 with a few students after the facing out of the Enrolled Nursing Programme now had 277 students.

She said the college obtained 89.7 per cent in its Licensure Examination in December 2006 and was adjudged the best nurses training college in the country.

Ms Appoh said some problems facing the college were, lack of staff and students' accommodation, a computer room for more computers and means of transport for clinical programmes.

Reverend Father Paul Larweh, in-charge of Nkawkaw Saint Michael Parish of the Catholic Church, advised nurses to be patient with the sick who visited the hospital and other health centres. He urged them to ensure the confidentiality of patients and educate them to ensure environmental cleanliness to avoid diseases.