Most Rev. Joseph Afrifah-Agyekum , Bishop Responsible for Health, has commended Community Health Nurses for calling- off their two-weeks nationwide strike action.
He expressed his gratitude to them for giving in to reason to dialogue rather than laying down their tools. The Bishop made the remark when he addressed various staff durbars at some selected facilities in the Sekondi-Takoradi and Wiawso dioceses, during a working visit.
The action which lasted between 30th May – 14th June 2016, saw over 13, 000 community Health Nurses across the nation, register their displeasure at the Ghana Health Service for what they termed wrong recognition of their certificates and change in their nomenclature. The nurses were protesting the change of their name from Community Nurses to Nursing Assistants.
Reports from the districts suggested negative effect of the action on clinics and health centers located in the hinterlands, with Reproductive and Child health services most affected as a result of their absence.
The Bishop admonished the nurses to remain committed to their profession and see it as their divine calling or vocation to care for the sick and marginalized, thereby serving as the hand and feet of Jesus Christ in His ministry. He charged them to remain true to the church’s identity and values on health delivery and not taking part in strike actions.
In 1980, the Government of Ghana, following a careful analysis of the impact of health policies and strategies on the health status of Ghanaians, decided to adopt the Primary Health Care approach to healthcare delivery. The aims were to achieve 80% coverage of health services and prevent 80% of disease that affect the Ghanaian population. The Community Health Nurse (CHN) programme was one of the strategies that was evolved to achieve the above stated objectives.
The ultimate goal of the programme was to train multipurpose health worker with adequate knowledge, skills and attitudes to be able to function effectively as a member of the Sub-District Health Team (SDHT) in the provision of preventive, support and curative health care at the community level.