The Department of Nursing of Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) has celebrated its 10th anniversary of the training of nurses and midwives. The theme of the anniversary was “Transforming the Image of Nursing and Midwifery: The Role of Tertiary Education.”
Dr. Mrs. Victoria Bam, Head of the Nursing Department, in her speech said the department started as a very small one in the Faculty of Health Sciences with about forty (40) students and three (3) lecturers. She explained that notwithstanding the challenges they faced, the department can boast about having graduated over three hundred and seventy (370) students. She showed her sincere gratitude to the various tertiary institutions overseas which had contributed to the development of the Nursing Department of KNUST.
She added that through the relentless effort of both staff and students the department had become one of the best in the faculty in terms of academic excellence. The Department has exchange programmes with many tertiary institutions around the world. She hoped that the Department would work hard to achieve their vision which is “to become a center of excellence for nursing education, practice and research in Africa.”
Professor William Otoo Ellis, Vice Chancellor also remarked that KNUST has the vision to advance knowledge in science and technology for sustainable development in Ghana in particular and Africa as a whole. This vision, he added, could effectively be achieved through the training of quality human resource to facilitate the country’s dream of economic transformation. He explained that KNUST as a science and technology university, therefore, served as a platform for the industrial and socio-economic development of the country. Professor Ellis congratulated the stakeholders and lecturers of the department for the successes achieved and urged them not to relax since their hard work had become evident in the stiff competition of applicants for places in the department during the recent admission exercise.
In a keynote address, the Executive Secretary for the National Council for Tertiary Education, Prof. Mahama Duwiejua, described nursing as a noble profession which required God’s guidance. He added that In spite of the negative perceptions and criticism attached to the profession, nurses were in high demand in the society. He remarked that it was not surprising that nursing was one of the hottest programmes on offer in the university. He advised the nurses that health care in the 21st century required teamwork, knowledge and creativity and therefore, tertiary institutions needed to inculcate not only book knowledge but such qualities in their students.
Also present at the ceremony was Prof. E. T. Agbenyega, Provost of the College of Health Science who chaired the ceremony; Mrs. Philomena Woolley, Registrar of the Nurses and Midwifery Council; Mr. George Kumi Kyeremeh, Director – Nursing and Midwifery Council; Rev. Fr. J. Appiah-Poku, Dean of the Faculty of Allied Health Sciences and a host of other personalities.
