Govt warns nursing students on storage of science equipment

 

 

KAMPALA. Government has warned nursing and midwifery students against careless handling of science equipment which make them damaged and dysfunctional.

Ms Elizabeth Gabona, the director Higher Education said many health teaching institutions still have ill-equipped skills laboratories not because government doesn’t purchase equipment but reckless students are to blame for damaging the equipment soon after they are procured.

“We have for long suffered criticism over ill-equipped laboratories in health teaching institutions yet we played our role as government.  It is just because what we install is not properly managed and students are partly to blame for damaging the equipment, forgetting that they  cost colossal sum of money,” she said

Ms Gabona issued the warning last Friday while handling over skills laboratory equipment to 12 midwifery training institutions at Kyambogo Public Health Nurses College.

These  include ;skills lab equipment such as anatomical models that students  use for demonstrations  before starting working on real patients, delivery kits, diagnostic kits and delivery beds as well as caesarian section sets .The beneficiary nursing and midwifery training  institutions include, Lacor, Kibuli ,Jinja, Mulago,Kyambogo Public Health Nurses College , Matany,Kabale .Others are ; Soroti ,Virika,Lira,Kagando and Arua.

Matany ,which is locate in Karamoja ,in a special way also received a 26-seater bus to boost  the domiciliary midwifery training programme in the region  as well as supporting  transportation of students to placements at health facilities . Both the equipment and a bus, all worth Shs 330million, were donated by United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).

Ms Gabona applauded  UNFPA for the donation, saying it will go a long way in improving the quality of midwifery training in the country.

However, Dr Wilfred Ocham , the  UNFPA assistant country representative said although efforts have been made to fully equip nursing schools , more robust interventions are needed to improve midwifery education. He noted that the current tutor student ratio was very much below the acceptable standards to give adequate interaction between the tutor and each student so as to meet the learning need of students.

“ We need to emphasise interventions to strengthen human resources of the training schools, update the curriculum so that it meets the midwifery care needs of Ugandans,” he said

Uganda is reportedly losing at least 1,400 skilled professionals mostly doctors and nurses  each year who leave the country seeking  greener pasture.

The nurse to population ratio currently stands at 1:5,000; and the midwife-to-population ratio is 1:10,000. The ratios vary widely between districts.

Dr Ocham pledged that his organisation will work with government to complete the review of the midwifery curriculum as well as training more tutors .

“ We are working to train more tutors to add on the 21 who are already undertaking the Bachelor of Medical Education at Mulago Tutors College and hope that government though public service will ensure that these tutors are absorbed into service immediately they qualify ,” he said

At least 50 heath tutors are churned out of the Health Tutors College annually to teach in the 54 nursing schools and 32 allied health institutions.

Although the recommended tutor to student ratio in nursing schools is 1:20, in many missionary and public nursing schools it stands at 1:60 and 1:120 respectively. Recently, Ministry of Health technocrats reported a staggering short shortfall of 2,290 nurses in government hospitals alone. There are only 29,000 medical personnel in a country of 33million people, which has constrained efforts to ensure service delivery.