Nurses have urged the government to improve working conditions in the country in order to stem the health-care brain drain.
Madam Perpetual Ofori Ampofo, President of the Ghana Registered Nurses and Midwives Association (GRNMA), has asked the government to enhance health workers’ allowances and salaries in order to keep them in the nation.
“The truth is that migration is a right, and everyone can travel anywhere they choose to work.” So let’s raise pay, improve working conditions, and provide the necessary allowances for people to feel comfortable working here,” she stated on Sunrise with Alfred Ocansey.
Madam Ofori Ampofo raised concern that some unemployed nursing graduates have been waiting for their placement for two years. “Even while we discussed financial clearance, we still have a large number of trained nurses and midwives waiting to be assigned.” Recently, there have been a lot of protests by trained professionals who have yet to be hired.”
“In the meantime, Ghanaian nurses and midwives are in high demand in Western countries due to their high quality.” So, if I wake up tomorrow and make the informed decision that I want to travel abroad and work, nothing should be able to stop me. But, as a nation, we must make the appropriate measures to ensure that, even if people leave Ghana to work overseas, enough nurses and midwives remain in Ghana to provide nursing and midwifery services to the Ghanaian people,” she said.
Her remarks come as the Ghanaian government has urged nurses and other health professionals not to leave the country in search of greener pastures.
Dr. Anthony Nsiah-Asare, the Presidential Advisor on Health, reminded the nurses that Ghanaians looked up to them to address their health needs, so they should stay.