An eight-member delegation from the Health Professionals Competency Assessment & Licensure Directorate of the Ministry of Health in Ethiopia is in the country to understudy how the Nursing and Midwifery Council (N&MC) of Ghana conducts its online licensing examinations.
The delegation will also study the operations of N&MC and also seek its technical support to establish a Nursing and Midwifery Council in Ethiopia.
Mr Tewodros Abebaw, leader of the delegation and Director of the Health Professionals Competency Assessment & Licensure Directorate said the week-long study tour would afford them the opportunity to learn from Ghana’s experience and speed up their process of setting up a Nursing and Midwifery Council in Ethiopia.
He lauded Ghana’s achievement as the first on the African continent to introduce an online licensing examination as part of its regulatory functions.
He said the Ministry of Health in Ethiopia chose to understudy Ghana due to its credibility and integrity in building a robust regulatory system for the training, education, and practice of nursing and midwifery.
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“The government of Ethiopia and the people are happy and well-informed about the help Ghana’s N&MC is providing to other African countries to strengthen their regulatory systems and we would want to be part of this success story”, he said.
The Registrar of the N&MC, thanked the delegation for having confidence in Ghana’s system and said various technocrats at the N&MC will take turns to share lessons with them during their study.
Mr Nyante said it was laudable that Ethiopia was embarking on the journey to provide a regulatory body for its nursing and midwifery profession, adding that, N&MC was prepared for cooperation, collaboration and will also assist in the restructuring and transformation of the nursing and midwifery regulatory system and operations in Ethiopia.
He emphasized that since the introduction of the online licensing examinations in 2018, countries such as The Gambia, Sierra Leonne, Uganda, Malawi, Tanzania, and Liberia have visited the Council to understudy its operations.
He said the N&MC had provided technical assistance to the Liberia Board of Nursing and Midwifery (LBNM) to conduct licensing examinations for its Nurses and Midwives.
“This week, a team of technocrats from the N&MC are in Liberia to supervise the LBNM to conduct its first online licensing examinations for their Nursing and Midwifery Candidates from October 27-29, 2021.
Mr Felix Nyante said Ghana was always willing to help to provide technical assistance to Ethiopia to conduct its online licensing examinations and also set up its Nursing and Midwifery Council.