The National Council of the Ghana Registered Nurses Association, on Thursday called on affected students at the School of Nursing at University of Ghana to withdraw a court action placed on the licensure examination.
This is to allow for an amicable out of court settlement of the case to enable the examinations take place as scheduled for December 14 to 15.
These are contained in a communiqué signed by Emmanuel Abanga, Assistant Public Relations Officer of the Association, and sent to the
Minister of Health, copied to GNA in Accra.
The Council said: "looking at the limited time, candidates who have already been registered to sit for the licensure examination should be
allowed to proceed and every impediment should be removed in order to enable the examination take place.
"We believe that we can no longer continue to keep the thousand of college graduates who have qualified to write their licensure examination in undue trauma and anxiety".
The communiqué, however, disagreed with the decision by the Minister compelling Nurses and Midwives Council to unconditionally consider
unqualified degree holding candidates or indexing to write the professional examination.
According to the NMC, its decision to stop the candidates was based on the appalling results that unfortunately granted them qualification into the University's undergraduate programme which did not meet the requirement for the NMC indexing for the sitting of the licensure examination.
The restraint from writing the examination was based on the tenets of the Nurses and Midwives professional law, Nurses and Midwives' Council Decree, 1972-NRCD 117 which mandates the NMC, the only regulatory body for the Nursing and Midwifery to operate as such.
It is also in line particularly with the organization of the training and education of nurses and midwives and the maintenance and promotion of standards of professional conducts and efficiency.
The decree states among other things that the admission, should be subject to such conditions as the council may prescribe, of students to purse courses of instruction leading to qualification as nurses and midwives and prescribing the conditions of registration of nurses and midwives and of the granting of certificates and badges to nurses and midwives.
The communiqué stated that the rejection of the candidates were based on principles since the academic value of the SHS grade would not even grant them qualification to read a nursing diploma programme at the college level.
The GNRA said it took the position to protect the profession from being flooded with 'weak-willed' and inappropriately prepared professionals who instead of bracing the tide of fair competition have cheated the system, the
inadequate numbers notwithstanding.
It rejected in no uncertain terms, the notion held by many that persons could be picked from the streets and trained to give injection and that most renowned surgeons were picked from the garages.
The GNRA said the NMC will do business legally to safeguard the security placed in the hands of practicing nurses, midwives and instill
confidence into the nursing and midwifery profession.